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The Building Owners and Managers Association of the Greater Calgary AreaNewsBOMA Calgary Summer 2007
Page 8 - Downtown District | Page 9 - Preserving the Aberta Advantage | Page 10 - Commercial Real Estate Activity | Page 11- Who’s Who in the Zoo?
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2007 BOMA Awards 2007 BOMA Awards Celebrating People In Our NeighborhoodCelebrating People In Our NeighborhoodWinners of the 2007 Boma Awards
OPERATIONS MANAGER OF THE YEARColin Yates - BLJC
Colin has extensive experience on many complex building systems. He manages a large number of BLJC technicians, administrators and contractors. Colin believes strong teamwork is the major con-tributor to the success of this and future contracts.
OPERATOR OF THE YEARPaul Miller - GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
Paul involves himself with every aspect of the operation of Western Canadian Place and is always willing to lend a hand to fellow team members.
CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE YEARJohn Mathewson - GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
John has built an operations team at Fifth & Fifth that has effect-ively worked through signifi cant capital projects. His unrelenting commitment to safety at the site has set the standard at GWL Realty Advisors.
OPERATIONS TEAM OF THE YEARBLJC Team - TELUS Portfolio
A dedicated team of managers, technicians and coordinators make up the BLJC team at TELUS. The group has developed effective policies and procedures resulting in a well-run system under chal-lenging circumstances.
LEASING TEAM OF THE YEARBentall Real Estate Services
Over the past couple of years, Bentall Real Estate Services has been very productive and successful. As a result, this group has been unbeaten in leasing the greatest number of square feet of any landlord, or landlord’s representative, during 2006.
Taurus Property Group Inc.The leasing team at Taurus Property Group specializes in the fi eld of retail real estate leasing and consulting. Over the past fi ve years, they have achieved an effective tenant mix for Brookfi eld Proper-ties that resulted in the highest sales per square foot to date.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT TEAM OF THE YEARBrookfi eld Properties
Ninety-eight per cent of the tenants in Bankers Hall have long-term leases. This can be attributed to the motivated and committed prop-erty management team who provide 24/7 availability to their tenants.
CUSTOMER SERVICEAccounting and Finance Team - GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
One of the cornerstones of a successful property management team is the ability to provide timely and accurate fi nancial information. The accounting team at GWL Realty Advisors Inc. achieves this on a daily basis.
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BOMA Calgary NewsBOMA Calgary News is a co-publication of BOMA Calgary and Business in Calgary.
Business in Calgary 1025, 101 - 6 Ave. SW, Calgary, AB T2P 3P4Tel: 403.264.3270 • Fax: 403.264.3276Email: [email protected]: www.businessincalgary.com
BOMA Calgary120, 4954 Richard Road SW, Calgary, AB T3E 6L1Email: [email protected] • Web: www.boma.caTel: 403.237-0559 • Fax: 403.266-5876
CHAIRJames Harvie, TELUS Convention Centre
MEMBERSDavid Holmes, Measure Masters Calgary/PrairiesBlair Carbert, Stones Fontaine CarbertMichael Kehoe, Fairfi eld CommercialPaul Gauthier, FujitecMiles Durrie, Calgary HeraldCarol Lewis, Calgary Herald
Offi cersPRESIDENTWendy Cardell, The Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd.
VICE PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT-ELECTGuy Priddle, RPA, Oxford Properties Group
SECRETARY TREASURERTom Sullivan, GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
PAST PRESIDENT, Terry Schmitt, Estancia Investments Inc.
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTWilliam G. R. Partridge, CAE
DirectorsAlex Brough, Cushman Wakefi eld LePageRandy Burke, Daylight Cleaning SystemsBlair Carbert, Stones Fontaine Carbert BarristersDon Fairgrieve-Park, Bentall Real Estate ServicesGlen Kitteringham, Brookfield Properties CorporationPeter MacHardy, GWL Realty Advisors Inc.Domenic Mazzocchi, 20 Vic Management Inc.Lee Thiessen, Deloitte Property Tax ServicesGail Yahn, RPA, Hopewell Real Estate Services
The Building Owners and Managers Association of Calgary publishes BOMA Calgary News quarterly. For advertising rates and information contact Business in Calgary. Publication of advertising should not be deemed as endorsement by BOMA Calgary. The publisher reserves the right in its sole and absolute discretion to reject any advertising at any time submitted by any party. Material contained herein does not necessarily refl ect the opinion of BOMA Calgary, its members or its staff.
© 2007 by BOMA Calgary.Printed in Canada.
Fred McCreathIn the role of vice-president of fi nance and controller, Fred provides an exceptional level of customer service. His accounting expertise as well as his enhanced interpersonal skills has made him a very valuable team member of Dome Britannia Properties.
Don Nielsen - Oxford Properties Group Inc.Don has earned the trust of the tenants at Bow Valley Square through his attention to detail. His efforts contribute to achieving the goal of “on-time,” “on-budget,” with minimal disruption.
SECURITY SUPERVISOR OF THE YEARTom Bartolini - GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
Tom has demonstrated his commitment to service excellence by applying his knowledge of security and life safety policies and procedures at Fifth & Fifth. His professionalism and diligence has been exceptional.
SECURITY OFFICER OF THE YEARGuy Plett - Brookfi eld Properties
Guy brings enthusiasm and a keen desire to his role as a security offi cer. His contributions have been pivotal to the success of his group.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE (CUSTODIAL SERVICES)Bee-Clean Building Maintenance
Marylynn Enmil and her team at Fifth Avenue Place have a proven track record supported by independent quality assurance inspections. Completed on a weekly and monthly basis the team consistently receives ratings above 80 per cent and keeps tenant complaints to an aver-age of one per month.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE (CONSULTANT)Bruce MacKenzie - MacKenzie Management Consulting Inc.
Bruce has been a pioneer in the industry when it comes to environmental matters. He pro-vides great direction to the team at the Stock Exchange Tower, thereby minimizing the envi-ronmental footprint. MacKenzie Management Consulting Inc. was instrumental in the devel-opment of a program that set the groundwork for various initiatives such as BOMA Go Green
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and the Earth Award.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE (CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)Flynn Canada
During a challenging roof replacement/restoration project, Flynn Canada Ltd. ensured minimum disruption to the tenants at Stock Ex-change Tower while realizing the importance of completing the job on time and on budget.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE (TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS)Otis Canada Inc.
This skilled team provides the highest level of elevator maintenance services to a number of downtown offi ce building owners and man-agers. They are proactive in problem solving, ensuring their clients are making the right decisions.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE (LANDSCAPING SERVICES)Peter Hughes - Peter the Plantman Inc.
Beginning as a one-man business supplying plants and plant main-tenance to fi rms throughout Calgary, Peter now employs over 35 people and provides all aspects of interior and exterior land-scaping and maintenance related services.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE (PARKADE MANAGEMENT)Standard Parking of Canada Ltd.
Standard Parking of Canada Ltd. is a leading national provider of par-king facility management services. They provide onsite management for all major markets of the parking industry and have provided serv-ices in Calgary since 2002.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE (MECHANICAL ENGINEERING)TYZ Engineering Ltd.
Mechanical design is a very delicate process and the staff at TYZ En-
gineering has repeatedly demonstrated their ability to produce plans that are very accurate in detail and thorough in concept.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE (WASTE MANAGEMENT)WasteLess Environmental Services
The team at WasteLess Environmental Services has conducted var-ious initiatives such as waste audits that have been instrumental in reducing waste overall allowing clients to achieve various Go Green requirements. They also offer comprehensive advice on waste man-agement and recycling services.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE (PROJECT TEAM)GE Security/Mulvey & Banani/Western Electrical Management Ltd.
The team of dedicated individuals responsible for the replacement of the fi re alarm system at Bankers Hall is comprised of Western Elec-trical Management Limited, Mulvey and Banani and GE Security. The project is ongoing and to date the transition has gone smoothly and without incident.
ABOVE AND BEYOND AND INNOVATIONOxford Properties Group Inc. – Shell Centre
Carl and Kelvin are described as “operations improvement” people. While providing the day-to-day operations of the building, these en-gineers developed an improvement that resulted in a reduction of 66,000 cubic metres of water consumption annually which translated |to a savings of $69,000 annually in operating costs to building tenants.
INNOVATION Remington Development Corporation - Quarry Park
Quarry Park was a 311-acre parcel in the city’s southeast. It had been sitting idle as a “brownfi eld” until Remington sought an inn-ovative solution to development issues like methane management, site elevation and servicing. When completed, Quarry Park will be
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ARX Engineering John Hudson knows that the critical use of power in large com-mercial facilities makes continuous electric power extremely important. That is what lead him to develop and install the new 25 KV sequence for buildings. If power is lost on the preferred service, the switch allows transfer to alternate service without disruption to the operations of the building.
MALCOLM BRYCE AWARDParnell Lea - CREIT Management Ltd.
Volunteer of the Year.PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Rita Ivanco - Brookfi eld PropertiesExceptional Service for the Awards Committee.
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Great people lead to great things Great people lead to great things By Wendy L. Cardell, CPM, President
President’s Report President’s Report
W OW! What a fabulous time on April 21st at the 24th An-nual BOMA Awards Gala – celebrating the fi rst-class people who work in our industry. A friend of mine says:
“It’s just nice to be nominated”; however, it goes beyond “just being nominated.” BOMA members operate some of the fi nest buildings and service companies in Canada. To be nominated by your peers is an honour. I’d say our industry is fortunate to have such talented, committed teams. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners! The BOMA Awards recognize outstanding performance in vari-ous categories and it sets a benchmark for all of us to emulate. Many of the functions performed by our nominees are invisible to our cus-tomers but without their effort, our buildings would not hum along as smoothly as they currently do. The Awards Gala does not just happen – many volunteers have put in hundreds of hours of their own time. On behalf of the Board, thank you to co-chairpersons Patti Buskas (Brookfi eld Properties) and Dion Chrapko (GWL Realty Advisors), for your leadership and te-nacity in this very time-consuming role. We are thankful to everyone who has worked on the various committees to ensure its success. I’d also like to thank Donna and Bill in the BOMA offi ce. Your
ongoing assistance to ensure the Gala runs smoothly is acknowl-edged and appreciated. BOMA promotes excellence in building operations which trans-lates into higher service standards in the buildings we represent. BOMA also promotes high standards through the many committees we have such as:
• Environmental OH&S Committee
• Codes & Regulations Committee
• Education Committee
• Government Affairs Committee
• Public Safety Committee
BOMA Calgary leads the way, promoting high standards of ser-vice not only within the Calgary service area, but nationally through our affi liation with BOMA Canada. With the warmer weather now upon us (hopefully), I hope each of you will make the time to attend an upcoming BOMA lunch. I also hope you will make the time to enjoy something you love to do that allows you to enjoy life just a little bit more. Wendy Cardell, CPM, President. B
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Up until recently I took parking for granted. That’s because up until now, I have always had a reserved
stall. Parking therefore was no issue. Now that our offi ce is located outside the core, I have a new perspective on parking. There is a lot of parking in the downtown core, about 43,000 stalls. Of that amount, BOMA members, not including the Cal-gary Parking Authority, operate about 27,000 of the available parking. Likewise there are about 150,000 people who work in the core each day. Simple math would tell you there is a gap between supply and demand. But, alas, this story is just not that simple. To better understand the parking issue, one must start from the beginning of the life of a building. Development in the core
is regulated by the Land Use Bylaw, 2P80 – soon to be replaced by 1P2007, the new Land Use Bylaw (LUB). An offi ce building is required to provide one stall per 1,500 square feet of space. Let’s consider a hypothetical building of 500,000 square feet. The bylaw requires 334
stalls. Of this amount 167 maximum could be provided on site. The remaining 167 stalls are provided by a direct cash payment to the city by the developer. This cash-in-lieu
contribution means the City may con-struct parking from that cash contribution at some other place and time not neces-sarily close to our hypothetical building. The potential daily population of a building this size could be between 1,600 and 2,000 workers, assuming a space rela-
tionship of one person for every 250 to 300 square feet. So, at these levels, there is a parking stall for one of every 10 people in the building. Considering the city’s transit
Why is it so hard to park?Why is it so hard to park?By William Partridge, CAE, Executive Vice President
Executive Vice-President’s ReportExecutive Vice-President’s Report
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So parking and public transportation are defi cient for the needs of a major city like Calgary. Could we solve
one problem by better managing another?
modal split policy outlined above, the city will have to add capac-ity to accommodate an additional 800 to 1,000 people per day on transit. In theory this should work. There are some other policies which tend to intervene against functionality of the theoretical model. The fi rst is the City’s parking cash in lieu policy, or CIL. For a variety of reasons, it is not always possible to provide all the parking required by the LUB on a development site. Subsoil conditions, or geotech-
nical conditions, and limitations of the road network can preclude building 100 per cent of the required parking onsite. Under the CIL program, a developer pays a 50 per cent cash equivalent to the City, and the City then is obligated to build the remaining 50 per cent of the required parking. The second limiting factor is the number of people driving into the core. Many do so because they want to, but a signifi cant number, I submit, do so because they perceive they have no better alterna-tive. The capacity of public transit is limited, however the current City Council has recognized this defi ciency and has taken steps to
add capacity by way of additional LRT cars and buses. An initiative last fall was to “bonus” new development sites up to 25 per cent of the total required parking provided it was dedicated as short stay (up to four hours) parking. Unfortunately, the City imposed a condition that required the Calgary Parking Authority to operate these stalls, a condition which the industry objected out right as split operations made no sense. The other major constraint on parking in the core is the available
land. The CIL funds may not, at present, be used to purchase land, which then re-quires the City to acquire land for parking structures or lots from public monies. That parking inventory is then lost and may not be returned to the public realm. As a former regular transit user, I now intentionally avoid it. Most people enjoy riding on transit that is convenient and reli-able, but their satisfaction tends to diminish
rapidly as the system becomes severely crowded. LRT parking lots are fi lled up early in the morning, suggesting a failure on the City’s part to properly forecast use, or relying too heavily on the assump-tion that riders will actually use the feeder busses. So parking and public transportation are defi cient for the needs of a major city like Calgary. Could we solve one problem by better managing another? It would better serve the commuting public if the City adopted a much more proactive approach to constructing public transportation such that the LRT capacity and bus capacity came on-stream in advance of new areas being developed. B
LRT parking lots are fi lled up early in the morning, suggesting a failure on the City’s part to properly
forecast use, or relying too heavily on the assumption that riders will actually use the feeder busses.
The City of Calgary con-tinued to demonstrate its commitment to de-
velop green energy sources when City Council approved the Calgary District Energy system which will heat and cool downtown buildings. Mayor Dave Bronconnier is also confi dent that a cen-tralized energy system that is close to downtown will pro-vide long-term cost effi cien-cies and energy savings for developments and will attract new commercial activity to the area known as the East Village. “This is an ecologically friendly energy generation system,” says Mayor Broncon-nier. “I believe it will encourage develop-ment in the East Village because it creates a central heating and cooling system that makes it convenient for developers to hook up to the system.” The District Energy project was unani-mously approved by City Council in March and received a $31.8-million funding com-mitment from the Government of Canada, the Province of Alberta and The City of Calgary through the Canada-Alberta Mu-nicipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (CAM-RIF). Western Economic Diversifi cation and Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation each pledged $10 million towards the proj-ect while The City will contribute $11.8 million. “I’m thrilled we’ll be able to move for-ward with this project,” says Alderman Bob Hawkesworth who championed the project with The City’s Infrastructure Services de-partment. “It means reduced greenhouse gas emissions, it saves on capital, it saves space, it saves on operating costs.” The Calgary Downtown District Energy project is a multi-phase project involving the development of a heating and cooling plant located in the downtown core in Phase 1 together with a combined heat and power (CHP) co-generation energy plant located further from the city centre in Phase 2. The City of Calgary, in partnership with ENMAX, will develop and operate the thermal and co-generation plants and
thermal distribution system. The CAMRIF funding allows The City and ENMAX to proceed immediately with construction of Phase 1 with Phase 2 expected to be com-pleted by 2010. The downtown district energy plant and distribution system will service current municipally owned buildings and selected future downtown buildings. The project is also integral to the future development of the East Village, known as The Rivers. The district energy system is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emis-sions through its overall higher heating effi ciency compared to individual building thermal production. It will reduce GHG emissions from municipal buildings’ heat-ing equipment by approximately 19,000 tons per year and by up to 235,000 tons per year when the system is fully subscribed. Approximately 560,000 square metres (or about six million square feet) of build-ing space can be heated and cooled when construction of the downtown district en-ergy plant is completed. The City will benefi t because it adds mo-mentum to redevelopment projects such as The Rivers, supports sustainable develop-ment and provides integrated energy plan-ning while reducing greenhouse gas emis-sions and improving urban air quality. The Calgary District Energy project was also developed using Council’s Triple Bot-tom Line framework to integrate social, economic and environmental objectives to maintain high standards of living, social harmony and environmental quality. B
Media Contact: Kerry Joyes,
Communications Strategist, Infrastructure Services
The City of Calgary Phone: (403) 268-8872
Calgary Downtown DistrictCalgary Downtown DistrictEnergy Project Energy Project Gets “Green” LightGets “Green” Light
Map of the District Energy System
There continues to be signifi cant discussion and pride in this province about the “Alberta Advantage.” This marketing slogan touts the province as having a high quality of life,
low overall taxes, strong economy, affordable cost of living and a highly competitive business community. There are however sug-gestions that this edge over the balance of Canada may be erod-ing; housing prices are skyrocketing, labour shortages abound, and business operators are contending with legislative impediments to realizing the benefi ts of the dynamic provincial economy. One area in which businesses are struggling is disclosure of in-formation as it pertains to property assessments. On January 30, 2007, Alberta’s Information and Privacy Commissioner released a decision confi rming its position that the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is not applicable to requests made to municipalities for information relative to property assessments. “The requirement to provide information found in the Munici-pal Government Act prevails over that Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and in effect leaves the degree and scope of disclosure at the discretion of the municipalities,” says Robert Brazzell, chair of the BOMA Tax Committee. To truly understand a property assessment, taxpayers require a certain level of disclosure from municipalities. But taxpayers are largely denied access to the information municipalities are rely-ing upon to draw their conclusions and assign property assessment values. “It’s very diffi cult to get a clear understanding of the way in which your assessment was calculated and whether or not it is in fact equitable or correct,” says Brazzell. In order to understand and possibly contest an assessment, tax-payers need access to certain data. Most commercial property is valued by the income approach so taxpayers require the data that municipalities are using to calculate the various components ap-plied in calculating the assessed values. By way of example, they need to know which specifi c leases and buildings are being referenced to determine the net market rent attributed to buildings located in a particular geographic area. Tax-payers would also like to know which sales the municipality con-siders to be sales of comparable properties and used to determine
the capitalization rate applied to the income stream of certain types of property in arriving at assessed values. “Historically, taxpayers are lucky to get the basic parameters. Municipalities say the capitalization rate we are using is nine per cent or the net market rent we are using is $20, but typically you wouldn’t know what specifi c sales or leases they’re relying on,” says Brazzell. With the January 30 decision of Alberta’s Informa-tion and Privacy Commissioner he is concerned that taxpayers will be offered even less information. “In effect, if you’re unable to access information from the mu-nicipality due to their strict policies regarding the disclosure of in-formation, and then the assessment appeal boards are not prepared to order disclosure it may never be possible to obtain the informa-tion necessary to determine with any certainty whether your prop-erty has been appropriately assessed.” Compounding the problem are the fees frequently charged by the municipalities to property owners to obtain the limited informa-tion which they are prepared to release. Some municipalities are erecting even more obstacles by disallowing multiple requests for information from one person. Taxpayers now have to initiate these requests on a property-by-property basis. “A property owner who owns 40 properties can’t request the in-formation on all 40 in one letter. He has to prepare 40 separate documents. It raises concerns that perhaps some municipalities are not interested in cooperating and providing information,” says Brazzell. Most recently property owners have been concerned by support of the City of Calgary for provincial legislation which would allow for a land transfer tax and other taxes and levies directed specifi -cally at commercial property owners and developers. Considering the present and ever increasing challenges faced by the business community in Alberta we need to be sensitive to adding to the ad-ministrative burden and the costs of conducting business in Alber-ta. The Alberta Advantage is being eroded and it is important that municipal governments seek opportunities to enhance rather then reduce the competitive advantage of Alberta-based businesses. Anyone interested in these or similar issues can reach Bob Braz-zell at 403-503-1338. B
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Preserving the Alberta AdvantagePreserving the Alberta AdvantageCalgary Downtown DistrictEnergy Project Gets “Green” Light
The sharp edges and challenges of a boom economy can be managed with new and clever approaches.
One of the most recent accommodations to the problem of retaining workers in a hot economic climate with expensive or non-existent housing has been EnCana’s proposal to supply housing to construction workers on its new Bow Building. EnCana purchased the old St. Regis Hotel site on 7th Avenue for $830/sq.-ft. in January 2006. The Hotel boasts 100 rooms and this will soon become a dormitory for Encana’s workers during the construction phase. Once The Bow is completed, the St. Regis will be wrapped in a cocoon and reappear as a boutique hotel for Encana’s out-of-town employees (the same fate has been predicted for the old North-West Travelers Building, just down from the old No. 1 Fire Hall and formerly the Calgary Municipal Museum). Further inventive ways to achieve a sus-
tainable project comes in the form of multi use zoning which the City is encourag-ing in an effort to increase the residential density in the downtown/beltline area. The days when you might live above your busi-ness are fond memories for some, but the idea is coming back with projects under construction which would see high rise blocks of condominium residences built in conjunction with commercial and offi ce space. Balboa’s Keynote Project, just east of the old No. 1 Co-op site, will involve two residential condominium towers and one offi ce tower. An additional tower to the Palliser Square group is on the books for Aspen Properties and will see the construction of an 18-storey offi ce building, Palliser South, on the corner of 10th Avenue and 1st Street SE. This project can be seen as part of the move southward for offi ce space, and with a +15 connection to projects under con-struction in East Beltline and the Stampede
Grounds, will become very accessible and popular. Recent transactions – Grosvenor has been acquiring the lots to complete its 5th Avenue site in the West End and has paid $403/sq.-ft. for the corner lot in February and $879/sq.-ft. for the lane lot in March. In February, the railside lot on 10th Avenue between MacLeod Trail sold to a numbered company for $258/sq.-ft. and Intergulf-Ci-dex purchased two apartment blocks and a house on 12th Avenue across from old Cen-tral High School for $333/sq.-ft. Dundeal Canada bought four offi ce buildings in the West End with the land values ranging from $1,850/sq.-ft. to $3,560/sq.-ft. Closer in, the old #102 Royal Canadian Legion building sold for $578/sq.-ft. and the old Indian Friendship Centre was purchased for $352/sq.-ft. In the East Village, the Cal-gary Orthotics site was purchased by the City for $130/sq.-ft. B
Recent Commercial Real Estate ActivityRecent Commercial Real Estate ActivityBy Robert Henderson, Core Database Ltd.
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Who’s Who in the Zoo?Who’s Who in the Zoo?
Retiring BOMA Director, Jim Strome, Calgary Health Region, is presented with a volunteer service award by President Wendy Cardell, CPM.
Terry Schmitt, retiring BOMA Presi-dent is presented with a painting as an expression of thanks of member by newly elected President Wendy Cardell, CPM
Red Deer Mayor, Morris Flew-welling, addressed BOMA members at the March Lunch meeting.
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• Grant Champion, Alberta Infrastructure
& Transportation
• Brad Derwent, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• Ceinwen Lee Toews, Brookfi eld Properties
• Lorne Toews, Calgary Marriott
Welcome these new BOMA Welcome these new BOMA members:members:
Alan Bartlett of GWL Realty Advi-sors is presented with Go Green Plus certifi cate on behalf of Western Canadian Place. Past President, Terry Schmitt presents the certifi cate.
President Wendy Cardell, COPM, presents Gloria Von Muhlen of SNS Lavalin ProFac with Go Green Certifi -cate for the Harry Hays Building.
Terry Schmitt presents certifi cate to Irwin Rajesky of GWL Realty Ad-visors for achieving Go Green Plus status for First Canadian Centre.
Not too many teenagers have a good handle on what they want to achieve in life, where they want to work and live – it’s all part of the trials of growing up. And it appears
that this young city of Calgary is still in its formative years as we struggle to fi nd our identity and worry about what it’s going to take to become ‘world class’ or to relax and be satisfi ed with being who we are today. I fi nd it so interesting – and frustrating – that we have individu-als who are deeply concerned, yet see no real positive reaction to their ideas and concerns. We suffer from those seeking to gobble up more land through the annexation process while others see no sense in making the city bigger when high density in the down-town core, beltline district and at LRT stations make so much more sense. Lots of ink has been used up regarding whether there is a need to spend money on major projects like a new Saddledome, a new Telus World of Science/Creative Kids Museum, new Central Li-brary, Calgary Stampede expansion, a refurbished Heritage Park and the exciting changes to the Calgary Zoo, while others are more
concerned about the plight of the homeless and those who have gotten less, rather than the more being enjoyed by so many others. Imagine what it must be like for a person without a place to sleep while newspapers and magazines are chock-a-block with adver-tisements urging people to invest their extra cash in recreational properties that cost more than the average home. I was invited to one of a series of luncheon meetings to discuss the future of Calgary and found the ideas very interesting, but had to chirp in that before we can dream of what we could be we have to solve some of real problems that the city faces today. Most fall into the laps of our elected aldermen and the city ad-ministration. I hear most complaints about the planning and transportation de-partments but in their defence the personnel just cannot handle to amount of increased demand, and I would suggest that they don’t get a lot of backing from council on any bright ideas they might have. A good example is the rather obvious (to me and many oth-ers) direction planners have given in urging the development of high-density residential properties at LRT stations. Yet aldermen, fearful in this election year to upset ward voters, will not decide for the betterment of the city as a whole, nor will they make a decision soon on secondary suites.
Transit Oriented Development will happen eventually but I hope some kind of incentive will encourage developers to build mixed-use that supplies a percentage of more affordable housing. At our luncheon discussion I pointed out that the ‘working poor’ we refer to as those who don’t earn enough to buy a house of their own probably included the nice waiter who had just served us so profes-sionally. There are no current initiatives to help alleviate the problems of creating more affordable housing here yet other cities have come up with solutions. I tried to introduce a newcomer to a city department a year ago who has a masters degree from M.I.T.’s Centre for Real Estate in Boston and was willing to share her experience with Massachu-setts’ affordable housing initiatives that were embraced by afford-able housing advocates, developers and governments. Unfortunately it took several months before she was acknowl-edged. Yet she has answers to the questions of whether mixed-income, high-density rental developments negatively impact nearby single-
family property values and can demonstrate the value of supporting secondary suites. Would you believe there is a Comprehensive Permit Law and Anti-Snob Zoning Act in suburban Boston communities? I’m encouraged by the urgency of some members of corporate Calgary who are attacking the problem through the Calgary
Committee to End Homelessness – but unless there is true support from city hall I have a fear it will fi zzle. But I hope they keep up the pressure despite the fact that there are so many rules and regu-lations – city, provincial and federal – that they will have to ram through or steer around. Yet time is so important. We look to have serious social as well as economic problems if we cannot fi nd accommodation for the hundreds of workers that are needed – and might be on their way here. But I doubt if a new mobile home park would ever get approved within city limits, even on a temporary basis. Too bad because they are pre-built – an instant solution. And as Boardwalk says it is not economically possible to build rental units at today’s land and construction prices unless a suite can be rented for a minimum of $1,600 per month. I’m no mathematician but it would seem a person earning $10 an hour for a 40-hour week is never going to afford one. There – and I’ve used up all of my allotted space without being able to comment on the aggravation of developers to the rumour that the city is about to buy another huge bank of industrial land to develop. Next time. B
By David ParkerBOMA NewsBOMA News
There are no current initiatives to help alleviate the problems of creating more affordable housing here
yet other cities have come up with solutions.
