to Fraser highlighting the housing crisis in Alberta and making their case for more federal funding.
He adds that whereas other Canadian office markets have seen a so-called "flight to quality" — tenants moving towards the high-end properties — Edmonton has seen a flight to, where an average quality office building in a vibrant location can beat out a higher quality building in a less vibrant location. Nonetheless, Edmonton's office vacancy is too high, and there are no strong indicators that it's about to get better.
The City is currently working with industry groups — such as the local chapters of the Urban Development Institute , Building Owners and Managers Association , National Association for Industrial and Office Parks , Canadian Home Builder's Association , and the Edmonton Downtown Recovery Coalition — to develop the incentive program, with a general structure expected to be presented to the Executive Committee on October 13.
"Calgary had a bigger issue with vacancies starting even before the pandemic, and what I was watching is the loss of valuation from those properties in their core ended up having a massive impact on small businessesof the core," Knack told STOREYS. "There were businesses that were seeing — over the course of just a couple of years — 50% to 70% property tax increases."
In 1997, the City created the Capital City Downtown Plan, which provided financial incentives of $4,500 per unit created via conversion, which ultimately led to the successful conversion of about 16 office buildings in the early 2000s.