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Considering Office Space for Lease in Calgary? 2022 is the Time to Move.

An image of tall blue skyscrapers in front of a blue sky with white fluffy clouds in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

After a long stretch of empty office spaces and overall gloom and doom in Calgary’s downtown office space, it looks like the tide is finally turning. 

“It’s really been quite a dreary time for Calgary’s downtown office space in recent years,” says John Savard, owner of Bedrock Realty Advisors. “We’ve seen a lot of factors, both pre-and post-pandemic which led to high vacancy rates for the last few years.” 

Taking a walk downtown is all you need to see to understand just how empty Calgary’s downtown has become since the 2014 oil and gas bust, followed closely by a pandemic which aggravated an already slow market. This resulted in the city hitting a new vacancy milestone, with one-third of Calgary office space vacant and negative absorption since 2017.

But as of Q4 of 2021, we’re starting to see a turn in the market. 

“In Q4 we actually hit the first positive absorption since 2017,” says Savard. “It wasn’t huge at just under 18,000 sq. ft., but it gives us some optimism that the tide is turning.” 

CBRE, Avison Young and other real estate and investment groups seem to agree. As the Covid pandemic restrictions ease, return-to-work policies come back into place and industries like tech and oil and gas start to burgeon, the future is starting to look bright in Calgary’s downtown office space again. 

“We’re starting to see the growth of the tech industry bringing in a lot of new leases,” says Savard. “And oil and gas commodity prices are really bringing a vitality back to the market, pushing economic activity and bringing new tenants back to the downtown as they look to re-hire and repopulate their operations.” 

Savard says this has been a mix of new tenants and tenants looking to relocate from the suburbs, a market that may have previously been unavailable or out of their price range. “There is a lot of great space out there, high quality space is still abundant and well-priced, but we do expect that to change.” 

Forecasters see slow but steady growth coming back to Calgary’s office space market, meaning moderate price increases and decreasing vacancy rate. “This will first come to the higher quality spaces, which are already seeing lower vacancy rates,” says Savard. “But it will eventually cascade to all the other classes of office space as well.” 

For people who are looking for downtown office space, Savard says now is the time to make your move. 

“If you’re looking for office space in Calgary’s downtown, especially higher quality space, it’s time to take advantage and lock in those affordable lease rates. There is still a lot of choices available, but you’ll want to get in while the market is still relatively soft.” 

If you want to look for space online, you can do it right from this website. Check out our Commercial Lease Search Engine – this easy tool will allow you to quickly find the downtown office space that suits your needs. Just enter your criteria and we’ll send you a report with your results. 

If you have any questions about Bedrock Realty Advisors, contact us.

 

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Five Things to Consider Before Choosing a Commercial Space for Rent in Calgary

City Skyline

City Skyline

Commercial space for lease in Calgary is wide open at the moment, with plenty of options downtown and in the surrounding suburban areas. It is, essentially, a buyer’s market for entrepreneurs and corporations looking to establish in the city – but that doesn’t mean you should be hasty! Today Bedrock Realty Advisors Inc. a trusted commercial realty advisor in Calgary, discusses the top five things to consider before looking for a commercial space to rent in Calgary.

  1. Location, Location, Location
    The most important factor in choosing your Calgary lease space is the location. The city has many desirable locations, including downtown. Right now is a great time for smaller businesses or startups to invest in downtown. Lease rates are down since several notable energy companies have pulled out of Alberta. This has opened up the core to revitalization as some property developers are turning empty towers into apartments. Slowly but surely, downtown is changing to have a wider range of businesses, along with more residences. If you are on the hunt for commercial space to rent in Calgary, don’t discount downtown. You may be surprised at what you can get for a great price right now.
  2. Growth Potential
    Moving a business is time-consuming and very expensive. Before you put down a deposit on a commercial space for lease in Calgary, ensure it has the room you need to expand. It is well worth looking at buying up adjacent bays, or facilities with a few extra office spaces even if they will sit empty for a couple of years. The price of maintaining the space is often less than the price of relocating and changing your address on all of your branding materials.
  3. Easy Access
    Whether your commercial space for rent in Calgary is going to rely on foot traffic from customers (like a retail store) or not (like warehousing or online services), it must be accessible. You, your customers, and your staff want to be close to work via a short commute or by public transit. Commercial space for lease in Calgary’s downtown is a great option because the C Train is free to use downtown. This means your customers and staff don’t have to worry about parking or slippery roads during Alberta’s chilly winters.
  4. Value Add-Ons
    Again, considering both your customers and your staff, you want a location that has extra value for everyone that uses or comes to the space. Your commercial space for rent in Calgary should be close to amenities like green spaces, lunch shops, and safe walking trails (be they streets or more suburban areas). Also consider the value of having accessible washrooms for the differently-abled, gender-neutral washrooms, lactating rooms for female staff that are nursing, nap rooms (which are trending right now!) and being close to laundry mats and grocery stores for the team members that must take care of these chores before or after their workday.
  5. Future Potential
    The commercial space for rent in Calgary that you ultimately decide on must also depend on the area’s future potential. The City of Calgary is looking to attract tech-focused businesses, for example, meaning any company that is tech-focused or supplies the tech sector would be wise to rent in downtown Calgary before competition for space ramps up.

Bedrock Realty Advisors Inc. guides those looking for commercial space to lease in Calgary through the process of finding the ideal location for your business’ present and future needs. Contact us today and let us help you find the perfect spot to launch and thrive.

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Bedrock calling the bottom of the commercial market

Calgary entered the 2018 commercial market with a cautious optimism. This is a relief from a two-year recession where vacancy rates increased from 8.52% at the beginning of 2015 to 27.06% by mid 2018.

Calgary Downtown Office Marketing Forecast report
Source: Colliers International Research and Forecast Report Calgary Downtown Office Market First Quarter 2018

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has been trading between $60-70 a barrel since late December. However, Western Canadian Select (WCS) has been trading at a discount to WTI and exporting Alberta oil is proving difficult as pipeline approvals are delayed.  This has slowed the growth potential for Calgary’s energy based economy

We are predicting that the bottom of the commercial market will be in sometime this year. With that being said the market has experienced a flight to quality space. Top quality pockets of 5,000 sq. ft. or less are being quickly leased in the current market.

What does this mean to the office user?  If you intend to take advantage of the renter’s commercial market right now, this next 12-18 months may be the most opportune time to look for savings in your rental expense or that chance to upgrade to A quality space at rents tenant’s paid for C space in 2014 at 6% vacancy. The window is wide open now but maybe closing soon.

graph average asking rates for commercial real estate in calgary
Average asking rates for commercial real estate in Calgary.
Source: Avison Young Q1 2018 Market Report

Interested in seeing what’s out there? Contact us today and we’ll help you find the perfect deal for your business.

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Bedrock Featured in CREB

John Savard was recently quoted in CREB Now as an expert in the Office Space for lease Calgary market. Below is a portion of the article. Read the Full Article.

Commercial real estate felt the pinch of a slumping economy in 2016 and Calgary’s suburban office market was no exception.

From headleases – between a landlord and a tenant – to subleases – where a tenant puts some of their excess space on the market – commercial real estate outside the core had its challenges.

“A significant amount of very, very large blocks of vacancies are available on the sublease market and the head lease market, for that matter, and we have not seen a great number of tenants going in to take those spaces,’’ said John Savard, principal, office leasing specialist with Bedrock Realty Advisors Inc.
Suburban office vacancy rose 0.3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2016 to 22.6 percent, according to a recent Barclay Street Real Estate report.

John news-page-001
John Savard of Bedrock Properties Ltd., discusses Calgary’s commercial real estate market with CREB Now. Click photo to view full article.