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SEPTEMBER 2010, Volume
25 Issue 9
What's
Happening in Alberta
1,200 acres ease Fort
Mac land shortage
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Twelve-hundred acres of land released for Fort McMurray
development.
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Infrastructure Minister Ray Danyluk announced in early August that the province would be selling off two parcels for industrial land south of Fort McMurray starting in September.
The land that will hit the market first includes 625 acres on the east side of Highway 63, about nine kilometres south of Highway 69. It will be sold in its current state as raw land, meaning it could still be months before any servicing could be done on it, and land servicing in the winter in northern Alberta isn't an easy task.
The second parcel of land consisting of about 600 acres near the airport is close to Highway 69, and won't be listed for sale until early 2011.
The province owns virtually all of the raw land close to the city.
"Government is responding to a critical need in this community," said Danyluk, the former municipal affairs minister who is well aware of the issues facing Fort McMurray and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
Developers, who have voiced repeated concerns about Fort McMurray's land crunch, welcomed the decision, with reservations.
"Commercial land is of high need and in very short supply," Bryan Lutes, president of the Wood Buffalo chapter of the Urban Development Institute, told Western Investor in early June. "The province has indicated that they may be letting some out this summer," Lutes said at the time"... but it will be raw land, and raw land is probably two to three years away from being useable land."
Calgary growth
lowest since 1984
The economy may be recovering from the doldrums of 2008 and 2009, but a key indicator of Calgary's economic health suggests the heart of the "New West" isn't pumping growth right now.
While the cranes are visible on the skyline downtown, Calgary's 2010 census recorded population growth of only 0.57 per cent from 2009 to 2010.
Alberta's biggest city grew by 6,060 residents during the past year, but had negative net migration for the first time since 1992.
According to city figures, Calgary saw 4,154 more residents leave than move in. Only the natural increase of more births than deaths allowed for an actual population increase.
The last time the city's population grew by a smaller percentage than it did in the past year was back in 1984, when it actually declined by 0.14 per cent during a major downturn for the oilpatch.
Not so surprisingly, the city's vacancy rate grew from spring of 2009 to spring of 2010, according to the census. It jumped from 3.08 per cent to 3.93 per cent, making life tougher for landlords and real estate speculators.
Oil town makes
eco-city list
Calgary drivers who occasionally are left in traffic jams on Deerfoot and Glenmore trails may be surprised to hear their city is the top eco-city on a list compiled by human resources specialist Mercer.
The company produces a "quality of living" ranking list for cities across the globe each year. It conducts the ranking to help governments and multinational companies set compensation for employees when placing them on international assignments.
While Calgary was 28th on the overall "quality of living" list behind other Canadian cities such as Vancouver and Ottawa, it moved to the head of the group in the eco-city measure contained in the report. That measure is based on its water potability, water availability, waste removal, sewage systems, air pollution and traffic congestion.
"Calgarians can be justifiably proud that the world recognizes the quality of Calgary's water and waste-management systems," said Dave Day, the city's director of environmental management.
Edmonton's apartment
prices rise 32 per cent
While Calgary's residential vacancy rate was up this spring, Edmonton's multifamily sector appears to be stabilizing, even as vacancy increases. Multifamily properties drew more interest from investors in the first half of 2010, according to Avison Young.
The commercial real estate firm says demand is increasing in Edmonton quality investment product. The overall vacancy rate in Alberta's capital increased from 4.7 per cent a year ago to 5.2 per cent at the end of June, Avison Young reports. Still, the price-per-door on multifamily building sales was up about 32 per cent.
That reflects both the higher-end nature of a couple of transactions as well as a general willingness for landlords to pay more. "Despite a higher vacancy rate, the Edmonton multifamily market is still considered to be in reasonably good health," said Avison Young principal Paul Chaput. "In the past six months, we've seen a strengthening demand for multiresidential investment properties as the Alberta economy continues to recover."
It is expected that vacancies will move closer to 4 per cent in the next six months, which would mark the lowest level in Edmonton since year-end 2008. Improving market conditions have increased the appetite of many large institutional buyers who are looking to add quality product to their portfolios, according to Chaput.
Big cities close in
building permits
Building activity is down slightly from last year in the Stampede city, but up significantly in Alberta's capital, leaving Calgary and Edmonton almost neck and neck for building-permit values in the first half of 2010.
Edmonton building-permit values from January to June soared to $1.6 billion in the first half of 2010, up almost 74.6 per cent from the same period in 2009.
In contrast, Calgary permit values fell from $1.7 billion to $1.62 billion for the same period. Calgary normally leads the building race easily against its northern neighbour.
St. Albert tops
60,000 people
Alberta has another city with a population over 60,000.
St. Albert, Edmonton's largest suburb, topped that mark officially with completion of its 2010 census. The bedroom community grew at an annual rate of 1.4 per cent, jumping from 58,501 in 2008 to 60,138 in 2010.
What was once a new young city is also getting older, something developers might need to keep in mind. The percentage of seniors 65 and older has increased in St. Albert from 7 per cent only 14 years ago to 12 per cent today.
– Compiled by Dave Husdal
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