Calgary retailers making the most of high vacancy rate

Calgary commercial experts say local retailers are becoming increasingly savvy in their fight for market share, challenging the traditional brick-and-mortar concept of doing business in favour of a pop-up model.

''I do think the trend is becoming more popular because of online shopping," said Barclay Street Real Estate retail associate Amy McGregor, who is working with Calgary Economic Development to research pop-up shops and facilitate a process for new business owners by connecting with landlords.

"Online retailers kind of want to dip their toe in the retail market and it's a low investment way to do that. There's more opportunity and more likelihood that landlords will give them the opportunity for the shorter-term leases."

Homeowners to benefit from redevelopment, says company behind initiative

An ambitious multi-year plan to breathe new life into Deerfoot Mall in north Calgary stands to benefit nearby homeowners in a big way, says the company behind the massive redevelopment.

In early 2016, Vancouver-based Shape Properties announced it would be transforming the decades-old property at Deerfoot Trail and 64th Avenue N.E. from a traditional closed mall into a state-of-the-art open shopping centre dubbed Deerfoot City, complete with everything from a restaurant campus to style district.

"For local property owners, Deerfoot City is nothing but a good story," said Shape Properties executive vice-president Darren Kwiatkowski, whose company purchased the site from Ivanhoe Cambridge in 2011 for a reported $78 million.

Oil prices to impact commercial, retail and industrial sectors

Declining oil prices are expected to create added challenges for Calgary's commercial market over the next 12 to 24 months, according to a new report from commercial real estate firm Avison Young.

Yet, the report also notes that because the city is home to one of the "most productive and best-paid workforces in the country" where average weekly earnings increased 5.1 per cent year-over-year to August 2014, the long-term outlook for the local business community is still positive.