AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-12

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1208REDR
Major projects to begin in 2009

A wealth of recreational projects, water and sewer upgrades and building improvements will get rolling next year after Red Deer city council approved the 2009 capital budget on Monday.

After more than four hours of discussion, politicians trimmed the $499-million budget by $27 million, bringing the total to nearly $472 million.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...in_in_2009.html

 

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1208REDR
Small tax hike expected

Steady growth and provincially funded ambulance contracts mean Sylvan Lake residents will only see a 1.3 per cent tax increase next year.

Town council approved the 2009 budget unanimously Monday evening, although some councillors expressed disappointment that the public didn`t participate in open budget meetings.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...e_expected.html

 

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1208REDR
Planners recommend more homes for Westlake

Red Deer`s municipal planning commission is recommending to city council that it amend the neighbourhood area structure plan for Westlake to add more homes in the subdivision`s final phase.

Martin Kvapil, a planning assistant with Parkland Community Planning Services, told the commission on Monday that Al-Terra Engineering Ltd. is seeking the amendment on behalf of Trademark Western Properties Inc.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...r_Westlake.html

 

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1208CALG
Dutch airline service lands back in calgary

A fter a 12-year absence, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is resuming service to Calgary, with non-stop flights to Amsterdam`s Schiphol Airport to start May 3.

The announcement comes in the midst of a financial crisis, with an economic downturn around the corner and continued uncertainty around oil prices, but that didn`t deter the airline from returning to Calgary, said KLM`s Hans W.deRoos. The service will connect Calgary to the famed Amsterdam hub--Schiphol is often voted Europe`s top airport -- from which travellers can connect to more than 65 destinations.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...37-b280a744f498

 

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1208CALG
City shuts Cecil tavern

The Cecil Hotel -- home to a notorious downtown bar visited by police an average of five times a day--was forced to lock the tavern`s doors Tuesday after the city revoked its business licence.

City staff delivered the suspension notice just hours after a city committee approved a tentative deal to buy the property.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...49-cb2a349edd37

 

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1208CALG
Downtown rents dip after massive run-up

D owntown office rental rates in Calgary soared by 160 per cent from 2003 to 2007, but show a slight dip this year as the vacancy rate continues to increase.

A market report by Barclay Street Real Estate Ltd. says the overall average rental rate for office space in downtown Calgary jumped from $15.25 per square foot in 2003 to $39.60 last year. This year it has fallen to $38.20.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...07-3bca9db9f69f

 

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1208CALG
Global centre to open in Calgary

Calgary Economic Development is establishing a Global Business Centre to increase international trade activity in southern Alberta.

The 7,000-square-foot centre, which is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2009, will be located along Stephen Avenue between the Hyatt Hotel and the Telus Convention Centre. The centre will be a "ground-floor, open and accessible focal point for international trade and business development activity that will contain services and information for companies that are looking to expand their markets globally," Bruce Graham, president and CEO of Calgary Economic Development, told the Herald.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...94-7fe0e7b03246

 

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1208CALG
Higher density is unavoidable

People are territorial by nature.

So it comes as no surprise when residents who might in principle support a concept that makes our city a better place to live rise up in protest when they find out it might be coming to their neighbourhood.

Such was the case with the west leg of the LRT. And it is happening again with a plans for development that would increase population density near C-Train stations. Nearby neighbourhoods are up in arms at a proposal to build a high density hub around the Brentwood LRT station.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Cla...7694351-sun.php

 

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1208EDTN
Property tax hike 7.3 %

EDMONTON - Mayor Stephen Mandel and three other councillors voted against the overall 2009 budget Wednesday, the strongest opposition to Edmonton`s financial blueprint for at least a generation.

Although next year`s 7.3-per-cent budget hike was approved 9-4, the mayor repeated his concerns that the demands it makes on taxpapers are too high in the current economic downturn.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...b4-17e2f5135dff

 

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1208EDTN
City unveils bold, low-cost housing plan

EDMONTON - The city`s bold and controversial plan to redevelop a seedy stretch of downtown leaped forward Wednesday, after the province pledged almost $25 million to help build a 150-unit YMCA affordable housing complex.

The development, called Welcome Village, is the first piece of the city`s Boyle Renaissance project. In addition to housing, the complex will include other amenities, such as a 60-space day care, an indoor-outdoor playground, gymnasium and a community theatre.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...25-c2dd99660ee3

 

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1208REDR
`Just wait` on Jazz flights

Air Canada officials told a Red Deer Regional Airport Authority consultant they should "cool their jets a little bit" on their bid for scheduled passenger service.

Authority CEO Liam O`Connell said Air Canada officials said Tuesday that a decision on whether to include regular flights in and out of the regional airport at Springbrook won`t be made until January.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...zz_flights.html

 

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1208CALG
Cecil closure `to move` crime elsewhere

Suspending the Cecil Hotel tavern`s business licence--and the city`s potential takeover of the downtown property --won`t erase the criminal activity that characterized the site but will likely push it elsewhere, everyone from politicians to businesses to community agencies said Wednesday.

The corner of 3rd Street and 4th Avenue S. E. has been noticeably quieter since Tuesday, when the city suspended the notorious tavern`s licence, forcing the bar many fingered as a crime hot spot to shut its doors.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...ee-eca640237efc

 

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1208CALG
Cliff Bungalow mobilizes against crime

Residents in Cliff Bungalow are mobilizing to deal with an influx of undesirables they say are bringing the drug trade, prostitution and property crimes to their doorstep.

"The crime on our street has become extraordinary," says Sebastian Gault, who has lived in the area for five years with his two-year-old daughter and his wife, who is expecting their second child.

"People feel that we are in a state of social emergency."

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...a1-90455b0efc15

 

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1208CALG
Detached homes declining

The share of single-detached homes as a proportion of Calgary`s housing starts has dropped more than 10% so far this decade, says a market analysis released yesterday by real estate consulting firm Altus Group, largely to the benefit of apartments. Between 2001 and 2003, 65% of all foundations poured in the city were for single-detached homes, while only 21% were for apartments, including rental properties.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/Business/2008/12/11/7705796-sun.html

 

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1208CALG
Housing slump has 18-month-old roots

Calgary`s housing slide isn`t a recent phenomenon triggered by the global economic meltdown but one with origins going back about 18 months ago, says a local real-tor who has carefully plotted the local real-estate downturn.

Average MLS sale prices for condominiums and single-family homes have dropped by about 14 per cent since their peak in 2007. Condos hit a record high of $332,237 in May 2007 but as of November they were averaging $285,820 in the city. Single-family homes recorded an average sale price of $505,920 in July 2007. In November, they dipped by more than $70,000 to an average selling price of $435,471.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...61-23073eafa6a0

 

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1208ALTA
Alaska seen as threat to gas export market

The Alaska pipeline is a"wolf in sheep`s clothing" that will force Canadian natural gas producers to seek alternative export markets outside North America, a Calgary-based consulting firm said Wednesday.

Ralph Glass, AJM Petroleum Consultants` vice-president of operations, said Alaska has the potential to back Canadian gas out of its traditional export markets in the U. S. Midwest if and when it`s built.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...8b-f079db9df648

 

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1208REDR
New meter system will promote conservation

A $24-million manoeuvre to reduce electricity and water consumption and bring more efficiencies to the meter system is coming to Red Deer.

Starting in 2010, traditional meters across the city will be replaced by automated meters that will show businesses and residents how much water and power they are using every 15 minutes.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...nservation.html

 

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1208REDR
Biofuel plant still on track

A multimillion-dollar biofuels plant proposed for a site near Innisfail is still a go, insists an official with one of the companies behind the project.

But Curtis Chandler said a guarantee of federal funding is necessary for work to proceed.

Chandler is president of Dominion Energy Services LLC, one of the corporate partners backing Alberta Ethanol and Biodiesel GP Ltd. in its plans to develop the ethanol and biodiesel facility.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...l_on_track.html

 

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1208EDTN
Upgrader land parcel expands

EDMONTON - North West Upgrading has almost doubled the size of its site near Fort Saskatchewan, waiting for the day when its $4 billion project will fly.

"This is progress, and we`ve got to keep moving. We have confidence that this project is a great opportunity for Alberta to add value to its bitumen," said Rob Pearce, the privately owned firm`s chief financial officer on Thursday.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...3d-9acedf476b4f

 

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1208EDTN
City apartment vacancies rising

EDMONTON - The apartment vacancy rate is rising and rent increases are abating in the Edmonton region, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Thursday.

The rate rose to 2.4 per cent in October, said the federal agency`s fall rental market survey. In October 2007, the rate was 1.5 per cent.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...03-bae61218a025