11/05/2019
Hunger for Calgary's commercial spaces is intensifying
by Ephraim Vecina | Nov 05, 2019
A bevy of dynamic industries have begun expanding their presences in Calgary’s commercial real estate, despite the oil and gas sector continuing along in its steady recovery.
“The city can’t continue to rely exclusively on energy sector to fuel its growth,” Allied Property REIT chief executive officer Michael Emory said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg.
“We’re beginning to see more demand emanating from tech, advertising, media and information,” Emory added. “We’re seeing early signs of that and if it continues to evolve, I think it will enable Calgary to diversity its economy in a meaningful way.”
The tech segment has particularly encouraging prospects, not just in Calgary but all across Canada, too. Over the past few years, tech companies have inflamed high demand for the country’s office space.
The trend might lead to commercial properties in relatively quieter becoming more feasible options, the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) predicted in its Cyberprovinces 2019 study.
In 2018 alone, Canada’s tech workforce grew by 3.8% annually, representing as much as 61,000 new jobs. The number of tech employees nationwide has grown by around 249,000 since 2010.
Moreover, demand for office spaces is “not just limited to technology companies, who are starting to take office space or build new headquarters, but a range of different company types are attracting tech talent,” CompTIA senior vice-president of research and market intelligence Tim Herbert told Postmedia in an interview
