A Red Deer developer has boosted its plans for an apartment complex in the city’s Timberlands subdivision.
Laebon Developments Ltd. received approval from Red Deer’s municipal planning commission in July 2011 to build a trio of three-storey, 67-unit apartment buildings at 301 Timothy Dr. One of those buildings is now complete and work is well underway on the second — but the company wants to build the third to a height of four storeys, with 73 units.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/cluobpw
Raw sewage has been entering the South Saskatchewan River in Medicine Hat because a sewage line from an apartment building was incorrectly hooked up to a storm sewer pipe about 40 years ago, says the city.
“Thursday Municipal Works were doing work on the storm out-fall, that discharges water into the river, noticed some sanitary products and toilet paper and that should not happen,” said manager of field operations Brian Graham, Environmental Utilities department for the city.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/cwk2m83
CALGARY — The apartment vacancy rate in the Calgary region averaged 1.3 per cent in October, down from 1.9 per cent last year, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s Fall Rental Market Survey released Thursday.
“Employment growth and higher incomes, supported by Calgary’s expanding economy, continued to attract migrants and increased demand for rental units,” said Richard Cho, senior market analyst in Calgary for the CMHC.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/bfgrnyx
EDMONTON- Almost seven years after the city approved a Malmo Plains seniors’ project, the community is fighting a new development proposed for the site that would be twice as big.
Westcorp Developments Inc. was allowed, despite strong local opposition in January 2006, to build a 250-unit complex, including a 16-storey apartment tower, on a 2.5-hectare property near 51st Avenue and 117th Street.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/9tbwm6x
Why houses/condos may fall in value but apartment buildings do not.
There is a common misperception that all real estate classes are created equal. House prices are falling in some cities in Canada, primarily because the rules to get mortgages have changed, such as increased debt-coverage ratios, higher down payments and shorter amortization. This allowed our Finance Minister Hon. Jim Flaherty to tighten consumer debt without raising interest rates! This leads some to believe that those (modestly) falling house prices will also affect other real estate classes, such as apartment buildings. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/8b2dv9b
Looking for an investment with skyscraper-high returns? Forget condominiums in Toronto or Calgary and think about real estate investment trusts that own apartments.
That’s the conclusion of Michael Smith, a real estate analyst at Macquarie Equities Research, in the fourth annual installment of his study comparing a REIT investment in the apartment sector to a condo investment. The REITs are still way ahead.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/934jwf3
EDMONTON – Edmonton will lose a downtown hotel as Coast Edmonton House converts to an apartment building by late next year.
“It’s a business decision by the owners of the building,” said Craig Norris-Jones, vice-president of operations for Coast Hotels and Resorts Canada. “With the increased demand for residential housing in the downtown core and the large suites that the building offers, this change from hotel to residential provides the optimal use of the asset.”
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/8oq6jgz
Housing construction numbers for September were “blowout” and “smashed consensus,” according to analysts who follow the sector. Single family starts rose 11 percent from August and are up nearly 43 percent from a year ago. This from the depths of the housing recession.
Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49448427
One of the biggest upsides to the downturn in housing has been a surge in demand for apartments.
Whether burned by foreclosure or afraid of losing money in home ownership, Americans have run in droves to rent. That resulted in a strong rise in rents and a big drop in vacancies over the past few years, as investors rushed to build more supply. Now, just as that supply is about to come on line, demand appears to be weakening.
Read more: tinyurl.com/8c4wtt3