Two major factors could shake up efforts to revitalize the downtown and fill empty office buildings in the core. Read More
’It’s just a sign of turbulent times, whether it be COVID, work from home, oilpatch consolidating, tariffs — it just seems like it’s one thing after another,’ said Greg Kwong, CBRE’s Alberta executive chair
Article content
The effect of increased oilpatch consolidation continues to be felt in Calgary’s downtown office market, with the vacancy rate for these buildings climbing back above 30 per cent during the first three months of the year.
Article content
Article content
A report released Monday by commercial real estate firm CBRE Ltd. found the downtown office vacancy rate increased during the first quarter to 30.2 per cent — its highest point since last spring — and up from 29.5 per cent at the end of last year.
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
“Merger and acquisition activity is resulting in consolidated office footprints in Calgary, whose downtown was impacted by the exit of Chevron,” CBRE said in a news release on Monday.
Article content
Noon News Roundup
Article content
Chevron Canada, which had about 275 employees in the country last year, announced in October the sale of its 20 per cent stake in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP) and properties in the Duvernay formation in Alberta, to Canadian Natural Resources for $8.85 billion.
Article content
Article content
According to CBRE, the city’s downtown office vacancy rate peaked at 33.8 per cent during the second quarter of 2022.
Article content
During the January-to-March period this year, the city’s overall office vacancy rate sat at 26.1 per cent. Calgary and Halifax saw the greatest improvement in their suburban office vacancy rates compared with other large Canadian cities, CBRE reported. Calgary’s suburban rate stood at 19.5 per cent.
Article content
Article content