REGIONAL OUTLOOk
PROVINCIAL PROGRESS Rocky Mountain Playground
of Alberta, Canada, Offers Opportunities in Residential and Energy
Management
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it’s called canada’s r Ocky MOuntain
PlayGrOund FOr a reasOn. Home to
Calgary and Edmonton, the western province
of Alberta offers a variety of tactile resources
and outdoor adventures. As the world’s second
largest exporter of natural gas and the fourth
largest producer, Alberta is highly dependent on
prices for oil and gas, which dramatically affects
its economy. The area hasn’t been immune to
the recession that has hit most of the world, but
Canada’s most prosperous province has survived better than most. While Canada’s overall
unemployment rate is 8. 5 percent as of January,
Alberta is at 6. 7 percent, a decline from a 7. 4
LUNA, THE
THIRD OF THREE
CONDOMINIUM
TOWERS IN THE
DESIGN DISTRICT
OF CALGARY, IS
SCHEDULED TO
BE COMPLETED IN
SEPTEMBER 2011.
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percentage a month earlier.
Due to social housing programs in Canada,
which allow rental housing to be owned and
managed by the state or not-for-profit organizations (or a combination of the two), foreclosure rates in Alberta have been lower and less
public for those who paid prime rates in 2007,
and the impact has been less dramatic than in
the United States. However, the commercial
real estate market—where property managers
in Alberta have traditionally done well—has
experienced higher vacancies in office buildings
in the past year, as corporations consolidate,
said Saadat Keshavjee, CPM®, CMOC, managing director of Amhurst Property Management,
LTD.
Office rents in Alberta are now down as
much as 30 percent, and industrial and residential property rents have dropped by 20 to
30 percent, Keshavjee said. Although Alberta
went through a market boom in 2007, as the
oil industry skyrocketed, property prices have
rolled back to pre-2006 levels, especially in the
commercial real estate industry.
“A property manager has to be resilient in this
market,” Keshavjee said. “He or she has to more
progressively analyze rents for clients and adjust
quickly to avoid losing a tenant.”
Despite higher vacancies in commercial
buildings, Keshavjee said Alberta does offer
great opportunities in other areas. He said there
is a dire shortage of property managers in the
condominium, multifamily, and to some extent,
the mixed-use property industries. And these
areas are starting to grow again. According to
thatscalgary.com more than 20,000 multifam-
ily residential units are now in construction,
approved, or are currently pending in Calgary,
