A year after the North West Mounted Police created a settlement at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers and named it Calgary in 1875, the Hudson's Bay Company set up shop and has been here ever since.

The history of the Hudson's Bay extends well before those first buildings were constructed in Calgary. In May of 1670, Prince Rupert, cousin of King Charles II granted the lands of the Hudson Bay watershed to a "Company of Adventurers" including Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Medard Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers.

If you were to choose a theme for real estate in the Calgary area in 2012, perhaps it would be the "year of the pleasant surprise".

Heading into 2012, CREB® predicted an 11 per cent increase in sales, citing the persistent record low interest rates that have greeted Canada homebuyers since 2009 as a key contributor to the increase. Instead, the Calgary area experienced a 23 per cent increase in year-over-year sales in October and is headed for equally positive numbers by the end of the year.

Combined Class A and B commercial vacancy in Calgary is at a nationwide low of 1.9 per cent said a report from Newmark Knight Frank Devencore.

The report tags Calgary's Class A vacancy rates at one per cent (followed by Vancouver at 1.5 per cent) while the city's Class B vacancy rate is 4.9 per cent, the third lowest in the country behind Ottawa, and Vancouver.

While a slowdown in national residential construction will play a role in moderating growth for Canadian businesses in 2013, a pickup in office/retail construction, combined with increased population density in major cities provide excellent opportunities for entrepreneurs, according to a special report from Sherry Cooper, chief economist for BMO Financial Group.

"The boom in non-residential construction represents a clear example of where opportunities lie for Canadian business," said Cooper.

MARK on Tenth, a $100 million condominium project by Qualex- Landmark has been announced for Tenth Avenue and Eighth Street SW in Calgary.

The first stage in construction has commenced with crews beginning to dismantle the existing building on the site, which was formerly West Canadian Graphics.