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AndrewJM3D
Guest
Outside of the energy sector, which companies are moving out west let alone Calgary?
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Ed007Toronto
Guest
George Weston, Brookfield, Barrick, Rogers, Canadian Tire, Fairmont, Shoppers, Loblaws, Onyx are a few off the top of my head.
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wyliepoon
Guest
National Post
Link to article
Imperial may follow EnCana with new tower
Calgary headquarters
Jon Harding
Financial Post
Friday, October 13, 2006
CALGARY - In what could shape up as a battle between Canadian oil titans to dominate Calgary's skyline, EnCana Corp. unveiled plans yesterday for the country's second-largest office tower just as Imperial Oil Ltd. is considering building its own downtown Calgary monolith.
Encana, Canada's largest oil-and-gas company by market value, laid out a $1-billion project to build a new and much-needed headquarters on the east side of Calgary's downtown core.
Completed by 2010, it would be the tallest office tower in Western Canada at 59 storeys or 247 metres, and rival for size and height Toronto's First Canadian Place and Scotia Plaza, with 1.7 million square feet of leasable office space.
Imperial, meanwhile, is taking steps to solve its own growing need for space. Two weeks ago, Canada's second-largest oil-and-gas company issued a request for proposals to a number of commercial real estate developers in the Calgary market.
Imperial, with 2,000 employees spread throughout three buildings, is looking to secure 700,000 square feet of commercial space and already owns half of a square city block in the heart of the downtown -- land that now houses a commercial parking lot.
"We're doing some research," Imperial spokesman Gordon Wong said. "We could renew our existing leases, which run until 2011, we could become a new tenant in a new development, or we could build a new office tower."
EnCana's crescent-shaped, steel-and-glass structure was designed by well-known London-based Foster + Partners, whose architectural exploits include the London City Hall, completed in 2002, last year's redevelopment of Wembley Stadium and the Beijing Airport, which is now under construction. The Calgary project is Foster's largest to date in North America.
A development application for The Bow -- the tower is named for the river that runs through the city and because of its shape -- was submitted to the Calgary's planning department yesterday by the project's developer, Toronto-based Matthews Southwest.
John Brannan, the EnCana executive leading the project, said the company, whose 3,600 employees are currently spread throughout five downtown Calgary buildings, will become the tower's primary tenant, occupying all but six of the storeys. The move into the new building will occur in stages between late-2010 and throughout 2011.
He also said EnCana intends to sell the project between now and the completion date. "Now that we have put in the application, we will start a disposition process to sell this overall project, probably to a trust fund, a REIT, to a developer or to investors, for the long term," Mr. Brannan said.
Booming downtown Calgary is feeling a major squeeze for commercial real estate space and is home to some of the highest lease rates in North America.
But EnCana's proposal raises the amount of commercial space being built or under consideration, city-wide, to 12.5-million square feet, the largest slate of new commercial projects of any city in Canada, according to Calgary's economic development department.
While the head of the department, Bruce Graham, said he has little fear a glut could occur, that scenario is one Imperial is considering. "It's too early, at least until we get the [proposals] back, to say which option is the best for us," Mr. Wong said.
Imperial moved its headquarters west from Toronto in August 2005.
Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier said other energy firms may be eyeing new developments in Calgary. "Yes, we are meeting with a number of other companies that are looking at building a building but as of this morning, I can't identify who or where," Mr. Bronconnier told reporters.
Mr. Graham said the new Encana tower is symbolic of the westerly shift of the country's economic power base.
"First Canadian Place was built over 30 years ago and, I believe, was symbolic of the shift in economic power that occurred at the time from Montreal to Toronto," said Mr. Graham, a longtime city of Toronto employee before becoming head of Calgary's economic development department three years ago. "In many ways, I think this EnCana project symbolizes the westerly shift today."
Link to article
Imperial may follow EnCana with new tower
Calgary headquarters
Jon Harding
Financial Post
Friday, October 13, 2006
CALGARY - In what could shape up as a battle between Canadian oil titans to dominate Calgary's skyline, EnCana Corp. unveiled plans yesterday for the country's second-largest office tower just as Imperial Oil Ltd. is considering building its own downtown Calgary monolith.
Encana, Canada's largest oil-and-gas company by market value, laid out a $1-billion project to build a new and much-needed headquarters on the east side of Calgary's downtown core.
Completed by 2010, it would be the tallest office tower in Western Canada at 59 storeys or 247 metres, and rival for size and height Toronto's First Canadian Place and Scotia Plaza, with 1.7 million square feet of leasable office space.
Imperial, meanwhile, is taking steps to solve its own growing need for space. Two weeks ago, Canada's second-largest oil-and-gas company issued a request for proposals to a number of commercial real estate developers in the Calgary market.
Imperial, with 2,000 employees spread throughout three buildings, is looking to secure 700,000 square feet of commercial space and already owns half of a square city block in the heart of the downtown -- land that now houses a commercial parking lot.
"We're doing some research," Imperial spokesman Gordon Wong said. "We could renew our existing leases, which run until 2011, we could become a new tenant in a new development, or we could build a new office tower."
EnCana's crescent-shaped, steel-and-glass structure was designed by well-known London-based Foster + Partners, whose architectural exploits include the London City Hall, completed in 2002, last year's redevelopment of Wembley Stadium and the Beijing Airport, which is now under construction. The Calgary project is Foster's largest to date in North America.
A development application for The Bow -- the tower is named for the river that runs through the city and because of its shape -- was submitted to the Calgary's planning department yesterday by the project's developer, Toronto-based Matthews Southwest.
John Brannan, the EnCana executive leading the project, said the company, whose 3,600 employees are currently spread throughout five downtown Calgary buildings, will become the tower's primary tenant, occupying all but six of the storeys. The move into the new building will occur in stages between late-2010 and throughout 2011.
He also said EnCana intends to sell the project between now and the completion date. "Now that we have put in the application, we will start a disposition process to sell this overall project, probably to a trust fund, a REIT, to a developer or to investors, for the long term," Mr. Brannan said.
Booming downtown Calgary is feeling a major squeeze for commercial real estate space and is home to some of the highest lease rates in North America.
But EnCana's proposal raises the amount of commercial space being built or under consideration, city-wide, to 12.5-million square feet, the largest slate of new commercial projects of any city in Canada, according to Calgary's economic development department.
While the head of the department, Bruce Graham, said he has little fear a glut could occur, that scenario is one Imperial is considering. "It's too early, at least until we get the [proposals] back, to say which option is the best for us," Mr. Wong said.
Imperial moved its headquarters west from Toronto in August 2005.
Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier said other energy firms may be eyeing new developments in Calgary. "Yes, we are meeting with a number of other companies that are looking at building a building but as of this morning, I can't identify who or where," Mr. Bronconnier told reporters.
Mr. Graham said the new Encana tower is symbolic of the westerly shift of the country's economic power base.
"First Canadian Place was built over 30 years ago and, I believe, was symbolic of the shift in economic power that occurred at the time from Montreal to Toronto," said Mr. Graham, a longtime city of Toronto employee before becoming head of Calgary's economic development department three years ago. "In many ways, I think this EnCana project symbolizes the westerly shift today."
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mark simpson
Guest
"This will be built. Calgary currently has the lowest office vacancy rates on the PLANET. which is why you can expect this and about 3 other major projects in Calgary to go ahead in the new year"
The projects currently under construction and the two expected to start represent 5 million square feet or more than 20% of the current inventory - add Penny Lane Tower 1 (which is a possiblity for Encana) and you have 25%
The projects currently under construction and the two expected to start represent 5 million square feet or more than 20% of the current inventory - add Penny Lane Tower 1 (which is a possiblity for Encana) and you have 25%
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blixa442
Guest
This project certainly blows away anything we currently have on the go. I too would trade this sucker for the three towers we're currently building.
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SD2
Guest
It's good, but I can't really see the big deal. It would be nice in Toronto but I'm definitely not drooling over it like almost everyone else seems to be. I think I prefer our City Hall.
Considering all of the projects going up in the city I don't think there's anything to be envious of. Sure, it would be nice to have some nicer office towers going up (of course this would be a big improvement on the BA) but we do have fantastic projects like the Hummingbird Centre Tower, etc. in the works and U/C.
Considering all of the projects going up in the city I don't think there's anything to be envious of. Sure, it would be nice to have some nicer office towers going up (of course this would be a big improvement on the BA) but we do have fantastic projects like the Hummingbird Centre Tower, etc. in the works and U/C.
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DaninToronto2
Guest
My biggest problem is that it is massive and really doesn't seem to fit in the skyline at all. The inner curve looks great, but the outer wall seems to suffer as a result. Overall its just okay and doesn't really strike me as the most stunning project. However, for a city of 1 million I think they are very fortunate to have a developer who looks beyond functionality alone and makes an attempt to create something that isn't boring.
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TdotTrickyRicky
Guest
"George Weston, Brookfield, Barrick, Rogers, Canadian Tire, Fairmont, Shoppers, Loblaws, Onyx are a few off the top of my head."
As mentioned I have no doubt that shorter towers or taller mixed-use towers will continue to be built but I can't see many existing corporate giants needing signiture homes like this current Encana proposal. Our emerging mid-sized companies with strong international presence seem to get gobbled up as fast as we can churn them out so unlikely to get much help there. Most of the players on the list above for instance already have their own corporate head offices. Companies like CanadianTire (Yonge and eglington) and Fairmont (I think bought up by a foreign company) aren't even in the same same league as RBC or Encana in terms of office needs. I could maybe see Manulife here and Imperial Oil in Calgary going for it. But what about Vancouver and Montreal? Maybe Teck Cominco?
As mentioned I have no doubt that shorter towers or taller mixed-use towers will continue to be built but I can't see many existing corporate giants needing signiture homes like this current Encana proposal. Our emerging mid-sized companies with strong international presence seem to get gobbled up as fast as we can churn them out so unlikely to get much help there. Most of the players on the list above for instance already have their own corporate head offices. Companies like CanadianTire (Yonge and eglington) and Fairmont (I think bought up by a foreign company) aren't even in the same same league as RBC or Encana in terms of office needs. I could maybe see Manulife here and Imperial Oil in Calgary going for it. But what about Vancouver and Montreal? Maybe Teck Cominco?
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wyliepoon
Guest
But what about Vancouver and Montreal?
I can't think of a company from Montreal that needs a new tower, but I think a likely candidate for Vancouver would be HSBC. It's expanding rapidly across the country in its bid to become a major national bank rather than a bank that only serves Chinese neighbourhoods. If the expansion is successful, I think it will need a landmark headquarter tower somewhere in downtown Vancouver.
(Considering HSBC has worked with Foster in Hong Kong and London, a Vancouver tower could be a Foster design too)
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ummagumma66
Guest
True Calgary seems to be flooding the market with office space, but all these projects are almost all 100% leased (that includes Penny Lane) the city is really struggling to keep up with the demand, I think only roadblock to this finishing on time is labour. the city has an unemployment of under 3% although it seems like its closer to 1%.The projects currently under construction and the two expected to start represent 5 million square feet or more than 20% of the current inventory - add Penny Lane Tower 1 (which is a possiblity for Encana) and you have 25%
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budboopriest
Guest
I for one don't want to trade our three office towers for this one. Its true that B/A was a dissapointment (especially in terms of height), but i just don't feel this is fosters best work. Compare this to the 600m russia tower he designed for moscow and i think most of u will agree with 3dementia that this is just a mish-mash of a bunch of his older designs. Also, as pointed out by another forumer, we have plenty of nice towers to look forward to: Ritz, shangrila, Four Seasons, Hummingbird etc. Lastly, although B/A is just a box, it will be a very sleek box that will have a huge impact on our skyline from certain angles.
Lets be happy for Calgary! And please, stop worrying about Toronto playing second-fiddle to a small prairie city that's running off one industry...we have nothing to worry about :hat
Lets be happy for Calgary! And please, stop worrying about Toronto playing second-fiddle to a small prairie city that's running off one industry...we have nothing to worry about :hat
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Observer Walt
Guest
^ I agree, what would we be "worried about"? In the U.S., they have five or ten cities which are recognized as major "corporate headquarters" cities, and no one seems to be worried about it. There may be some friendly rivalry but that's about as far as it goes. Here in Canada it seems to be more common that one city's rise is seen by some people as another's downfall.
Toronto is clearly the corporate headquarters city of Canada and I don't think that will change any time soon. Having said that, it can only be good for the whole country if Calgary, Vancouver, and Montreal are prosperous as well, creating jobs and new development.
Toronto is clearly the corporate headquarters city of Canada and I don't think that will change any time soon. Having said that, it can only be good for the whole country if Calgary, Vancouver, and Montreal are prosperous as well, creating jobs and new development.
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rbtaylor
Guest
Having said that, it can only be good for the whole country if Calgary, Vancouver, and Montreal are prosperous as well, creating jobs and new development.
Having strong trading partners and places of investment for Toronto can only make Toronto stronger. Economics isn't a zero sum game. Calgary growth has made various Ontario pension funds (OMERS, Ontario Teachers via respective development groups) and Toronto based banks a ton of money.
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ummagumma66
Guest
I agree, Calgary is not the major international city that Toronto is, Calgary is very important to the energy sector, whereas Toronto is the financial heart of the country. Calgary getting a major development like this may mean the Canada is no longer a one trick pony, by that I mean, perhaps a little economic shift west may a good thing overall for the country in a number of ways, for instance the west has always felt alienated by the east (read NEP). Now major developments in Calgary may help to ease some of the seperation talk here and make Alberta and the rest of the western provinces feel like we are contributing to the country. and look at the United States as previously mentioned, have a number 'major' cities. So I say don't think that Calgary is some backwater prairie city, think of it like the next major city in Canada that can contribute on the world stage.
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gbelan
Guest
agreed^huge growth in the west is a major plus for canada