British Columbia real estate developers are going all-in on a Calgary recovery, spearheading the biggest development plays in Alberta’s largest city.
The speculation started well before the federal Liberals approved two key Alberta oil pipeline projects, and the recent surge in global oil prices, up 9 per cent as of November 30 from a day earlier, to US$51 per barrel.
Spec leaders include Vancouver-based Qualex-Landmark, which has just completed the fourth-largest concrete pour in Calgary history as it started its 34-storey, $110 million Park Point condo tower in the Beltline area.
Approximately 1,200 cubic metres of concrete was poured continuously, during 14.5 hours on November 19. Approximately 130 concrete deliveries were made to the Park Point site with 25 trucks running in rotation.
Blocks away, Vancouver-based Embassy Bosa has broken ground on a 500-unit twin-tower condominium project, a joint venture with RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust that will complete in 2018.
Meanwhile, Hungerford Properties and Beedie Development Group, both based in Vancouver, have started work on new industrial and office developments in Calgary and Airdrie.
Other investors are apparently circling Calgary’s real estate market. Total sales of commercial property in the third quarter of 2016 reached $671 million, a 46 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2015, according to Altus Group.
