Currently, occupied office space in the city stands at 33.7 million square feet, according to a new report by Colliers International.
See examples of offices to rent in Calgary
This brings the city back to levels last seen in the second quarter of 2008 when the real estate market was at an all-time high.
The first three months of this year saw the overall vacancy rate drop one percentage point to 10.92 per cent. This equates to approximately 393,000 square feet of positive absorption.
Recently, the city saw the completion of the 1.1-million-square-foot Eighth Avenue Place. The building is now 88 per cent leased.
The report stated: “Much like in the latter half of 2010, oilsands companies continued to grow, with numerous new projects on the horizon creating additional office space requirements.
“Most of the activity can be attributed to the strong oil prices and resultant higher levels of activity in the sector.”
The report added: “With oil trading above USD 100 a barrel, office leasing activity in the Calgary downtown office market is expected to remain strong throughout 2011.”
With more oil companies taking on projects, many more jobs will become available, recapturing many of those lost during the recession, the report also said.
Calgary became an oil boom town in 1947 when massive reserves were found. When oil prices increased in 1973, the city’s economy grew rapidly. Between 1971 and 1980, the population of Calgary increased by a full 272,000 people. The next 18 years saw the population swell by 345,000. This economic boom also saw skyscrapers built in what had once been low-rise downtown.
Until the end of 2008, Calgary’s economy was booming, but it has recently been affected by the economic slump.
Editor’s notes: In Q1 2023, the office space vacancy rate across the whole of Calgary stood at 24.2 per cent, which reflected little change since Q4 2022 and a 1.2 per cent drop year-on-year.
The vacancy rate in Downtown Calgary stood at 27.1 per cent, which was down 1.8 per cent YOY.
It was also reported that in Q1 2023, there was 78,980 square feet of net absorption across the Downtown Calgary office space market.
However, there was -230,250 square feet of absorption across the suburban market.
In Q1 2026, the overall vacancy rate in Calgary stood at 22.8 per cent.
Research released by Colliers showed that the city’s Downtown office market remained relatively stable in the first quarter of the year, recording approximately 184,000 square feet of negative net absorption, and that the overall vacancy rate stood at 28.09 per cent, driven largely by an increase in sublease space in the AA-class market.
The total vacant space in Downtown Calgary, including direct-from-landlord space and tenant-controlled sublease space across all quality classes of AA, A, B, and C, stood at 11,609,157 square feet at the end of Q1.