Calgary's downtown office vacancy rate is going nowhere but up.

By the end of this year, that rate is projected to jump to 29.5 per cent, and it will climb even higher moving into 2021, says Greg Kwong, regional managing director with commercial real estate company CBRE.

Brookfield Office Properties Inc. has announced Cenovus Energy Inc. will be the anchor tenant for their new 56-storey, 247-metro tower in downtown Calgary.

Expected to create 1,300 construction jobs and 7.5 million construction man-hours in Calgary, the entire project calls for an additional office tower totaling approximately one million square feet, a 60-foot-high transparent glass pavilion, restaurants, retail shops and amenities at street level, and underground parking accommodating 1,100 parking stalls.