Albertasaurus
Senior Member
With all the conversions on the west side of downtown, combined with the U of C occupying space in the Nexen building, I am very excited to see how that part of downtown will evolve in the years ahead.
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- Thread starter Alex_YYC
- Start date
I think over the next 5 years or so, we will see the west half of downtown evolve into a different neighborhood much different than the east half of downtown. Here's my predictions for how things go for the west half of downtown (anything 5th street or west of that)
2022-Now) - West Village Towers, the two AHC buildings, Dominion, The Loft and Cornerstone have added or are just finishing the addition of approximately 2,000 residents
Now) - No real change for retail, but there are signs it begins to flourish due to extra residents, for example the Freshco opening in WVT. The west side of downtown now has an urban format grocery store
Now to 2027) - Conversions currently u/c add another 484 units and approximately 700 residents. New builds Plaza and Project 54 add another 591 units and approximately 900 residents. Retail presence slowly continues to increase.
2027-2030) - Planned conversions add 665 units and approximately 1000 residents. The 3rd WVT adds another 300 units and another 500 residents. 8th street upgrades are completed and the section between 8th ave and 5th ave becomes the epicenter for the west side and the west side as a whole continues to become more vibrant. Retail continues to take off, and now the west end begins to have its own sense of community and retail sphere of influence. Retail on the west side trends toward lower end, smaller more ethnically diverse retail drawing residents from the west side of downtown (which has also grown in population), and the Beltline. It even draws from other parts of the city as it takes on its new identity.
Of course things can change. Some of those conversions might not happen, or it could be a case of even more conversions. One thing I'm very certain of, is the office buildings in the west side won't fill up with office workers again. They'll be converted at some point, just a matter of when.
Dkeirle
New Member
Well put Surrealplaces. In 5 years someone will write a book titled "The Tale of Two Downtowns" The east and west sides will have their own vibe. In order to get the west end continuing to be more of a residential suited area, the city needs to spruce up the public realm and if we could ever make some of the roads two way, we'd really have something.
Another thing that would make a huge difference is getting more student campuses downtown. Maybe there's a possibility of opening a whole new school from scratch using downtown office buildings?
Another thing that would make a huge difference is getting more student campuses downtown. Maybe there's a possibility of opening a whole new school from scratch using downtown office buildings?
trtcttc
Senior Member
Quick note that WVT has a No Frills, but same idea.
Not to mention if the Contemporary Calgary plans go ahead, there'd be a cultural landmark in the area, since most of the other cultural items in the city are closer to the East.
CalgaryTiger
Senior Member
Can't forget RiverWalk West either.
I get those two mixed up all the time lol.
BKha
Active Member
Maybe I’m getting ahead of things, but maybe the thread name can be changed to simply Downtown Calgary discussion thread? Back when piles of empty office base was coming online there was a potential dilemma, but there is a partial solution in place and it’s been working. There will be more vacant office space coming up, but it’s more of an opportunity now than a dilemma.
Patrick.1980
Active Member
The thread should be renamed. In 2021 downtown was facing a dilemma, but the conversions have made an impact. Also in 2021 we were in the middle of Covid with thousands of workers working remotely, and there was uncertainty of how many would come back to the office. Slowly and steadily workers have been going back into the office, and this is also had an impact.
In a way the dilemma turned out to be more of an opportunity. Not only a chance to change a CBD that was super heavy on office space in the office to residential ratio, but it's also allowing smaller companies that were stuck paying high rate for Class B and C space to move into fancier digs at a reasonable, sometimes cheaper cost. The city had to chip in some subsidies for the conversions, but in a roundabout way, a lot of the heavy lifting was done by oil companies and pension funds.
Dkeirle
New Member
If you ask me Calgary’s downtown weathered the storm well, and is going in the right direction. If you want to see a downtown with an actual, dilemma check out Edmonton’s downtown. It’s going in the opposite direction, and is less busy today than it was 12 years ago when I lived there, and it wasn't busy then.
Beltline_B
Senior Member
The offices will sit empty while being converted, but in the end the vacancy rate is simply due to offices being vacant dur to not being needed anymore. Part of the article is misleading though.
"A new report issued by Caldwell Banker Richard Ellis (CBRE) said that Calgary’s office vacancy rate rose in 2025’s final quarter, despite a number of announced office-to-residential conversions"
New announcements of conversions doesn't have any effect on the vacancy rate until they are converted.
Beltline_B
Senior Member
Edmonton's downtown has been facing some challenges. If you go on the Edmonton forum's downtown thread and read through, you can read up on the various issues, but the two main issues are crime and struggling retail. Not enough density and people living downtown is also part of it.
darwink
Senior Member
They also built a bunch of incentivized office space that added inventory they didn't need. Whether it could have been avoided if the province had been willing to move around to create larger blocks of contiguous space, who knows. The City of Edmonton, Enbridge and Stantec wanted modern spaces in single buildings.
trtcttc
Senior Member
I don’t think any amount of conversion will really reduce the vacancy that much. We simply have too much space for an energy industry that is now only a handful of companies.
Beltline_B
Senior Member
Agreed. All the completed and planned conversions combined make up 6.2% of the office space. Fairly small in the grand scheme of things.
The point was more that new announcements of conversions doesn’t change the rate, it only changes it when they’re completed.