AB Economic Fundamentals 2009-01

[joeiannuzzi]

0109REDR
International clothing retailer coming to Red Deer

International clothing retailer H&M is preparing to set up shop in Red Deer, with a store in Bower Place Shopping Centre expected to open this spring.

The Swedish-based chain, whose full name is Hennes & Mauritz AB, carries clothing for women, men, teens and children. It also sells cosmetics, shoes and other accessories.

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

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109ALTA
Cheap oil, gas temporary: ex-CEO

Consumers shouldn`t get too comfortable with cheap gasoline, because the planet is running out of oil and prices will go "sky high" -- as high as $20 per litre -- as petroleum reserves dwindle in the coming years.

That`s the view of Jim Buckee, the British oilman who was CEO of Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc., one of Canada`s largest energy producers, from 1993 to 2007

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Technology/...9576/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109EDTN
Housing plan `against the grain`

The Boyle Renaissance downtown redevelopment plan is moving ahead despite concerns about its size and the concentration of social agencies in the area, project manager Harry Finnigan said on Wednesday.

The plan involves building 585 units of housing on about two blocks from 95th Street to 96th Street between 103A Avenue and the LRT tracks. The land now is used mainly for a park and school, the York Hotel, a scrapyard, Urban Manor Housing Society and open space.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/todays...9609/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109EDTN
Unregulated heat meters on hot seat

Many Edmontonians are keeping an eye on their heating bills, perhaps no one more than Kathie Landry.

This is the first winter Landry has spent in her Riverbend apartment, which has been equipped with a heat meter. The devices measure heating costs for individual apartment suites and have generated controversy since they were introduced to Edmonton in 2007.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Technology/...9611/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109ALTA
Forestry sector eyes credit, incentives

Cash isn`t the kind of support the Alberta forestry sector needs from higher levels of government, says an industry representative.

"We`re not looking for a handout," said Brady Whittaker yesterday. "We`re just looking for a hand up."

The president of the Alberta Forest Products Association says the provincial group was involved in putting together a list of proposals for the upcoming federal budget. The five-point list was presented to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt during a meeting chaired by the Forest Products Association of Canada.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/Business/News/2...029261-sun.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109FTMC
Oil deal signed


Imperial Oil Ltd. has inked a "main contract" for preparatory work on the multibillion Kearl oilsands project near Fort McMurray, a company spokesman said yesterday. But whereas yesterday`s announcement is a first official sign in several months that work on Kearl is progressing, it doesn`t signal whether the company plans to start the first phase of the $8-billion project in 2012, said Chris Feltin, an analyst with Tristone Capital.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/Business/2009/01/15/8030856-sun.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109REDR
Transition to new civic yards to cost extra

More money is being sought to open and operate the civic yards in Riverside Heavy Industrial Park.

During a review of the proposed 2009 operational budget, Development Services director Paul Goranson submitted two financial requests concerning the new civic yards.

Development Services is asking for a one-time fund of just over $94,000, which would help run both sites during the transitional period.

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

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109EDTN
Province throws city $1M curveball over property assessment fees

A surprise provincial move limiting the fees municipalities can charge business owners to appeal their property assessments is going to chop city revenues this year by nearly $1 million.

The 2009 Edmonton budget that passed Dec. 5 included higher prices to file challenges against non-residential property assessments, up to $5,000 for cases involving sites worth more than $10 million instead of the previous $500 maximum.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Provin...3398/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109FTSK
Future of bitumen upgraders gloomy

The possible bankruptcy of the builder of a partially completed $4-billion bitumen upgrader near Fort Saskatchewan is part of a larger picture of gloom faced by firms hoping to process Alberta`s bitumen within the province, says a group representing local municipalities.

"Companies are now talking just about extraction, not upgrading. And that`s a real challenge to us," said Neil Shelly, executive director of Alberta`s Industrial Heartland

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Technology/...3405/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109EDTN
Edmonton airport leads pack in growth

The international airport led the country in passenger growth for the third year in a row, and it`s one of the few major airports forecasting more growth this year.

Passenger numbers jumped six per cent to a record 6.5 million, with domestic routes accounting for five million, up 3.4 per cent.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/todays...4000/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109ALTA
Alberta won`t copy B.C. on stumpage fees

The Alberta government won`t follow B.C. and lower stumpage rates for the hard-hit forestry industry.

Premier Gordon Campbell dropped stumpage rates on the B.C. coast by 50 per cent to $5 a cubic metre Wednesday as part of a plan to kickstart the moribund forest industry.

Representatives of the American lumber lobby, who were in the audience at the annual Truck Loggers Association convention where Campbell announced the changes, called the premier`s move an "egregious" violation of the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Albert...3408/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109EDTN
Tight for space

After a hot summer, Colliers International says the city`s downtown office market is showing signs of cooling - but only slightly.

Ian Bradley, the real estate company`s senior vice-president of office leasing in Edmonton, said he expects the suburban sublet office space to grow faster in 2009 than it did last year.

"A lot of new buildings have been started (in the suburbs) and actually pre-leased," he said. Many of those will be completed this year, he said, including as much as 700,000 square feet on the city`s south side.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/Business/News/2...042066-sun.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109EDTN
Sector`s numbers build for `09

After what was a banner year in 2008, Edmonton`s non-residential construction industry doesn`t expect a collapse this year.

"There`s guarded optimism," said Michael Spitowski, president of the Edmonton Construction Association. The organization, which represents companies in industrial, commercial and institutional construction, is holding its annual general meeting today.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/Business/News/2...042081-sun.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109ALTA
Cash-strapped Alberta faces possible deep spending cuts, Stelmach says

Premier Ed Stelmach hinted Thursday the economic downturn could force cash-strapped Alberta --which is forecasting possible deficits in the near future--to revisit deep spending cuts experienced in the early 1990s.

Stelmach`s dire economic prognosis and musings of possible expenditure cuts come as most provinces and the federal government ratchet up spending to stimulate the faltering economy.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Technology/Ca...3764/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109ALTA
Youthful Albertans seen as economically resilient

Alberta is well-poised to weather the looming recession as new statistics show it remains Canada`s most youthful province.

Young adults, the backbone of the country`s mobile workforce, have more options in an economic downturn, experts say.

According to new numbers released by Statistics Canada on Thursday, 71.3 per cent of Albertans are aged 15 to 64, the highest compared with all other provinces and second only to the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. Alberta`s proportion of children aged 14 and under is also among the top five at 18.3 per cent, while the percentage of seniors is the lowest among the provinces, at 10.4 per cent.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Youthful...3835/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109CALG
Calgary`s MLS average price drop leads nation, volume decline trails only Vancouver

Calgary was second in the country for the biggest percentage annual decline in MLS residential sales in 2008 - and the city led the country in the average sale price drop, according to stats released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The national organization said the total number of sales in Calgary last year dropped by 28.1 per cent, just behind the 35.5 per cent plunge in the Greater Vancouver real estate market. The average MLS sale price in Calgary fell by 2.1 per cent to lead the nation, tied with Windsor-Essex.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Calg...1235/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109CALG
Office construction to slow

More than eight million square feet of office space in Calgary is set for completion between 2009 and 2011 and pre-leasing levels of 60 per cent have helped alleviate pent-up demand in an otherwise tight market, says global real estate firm DTZ Barnicke.

In its Canadian Perspectives 2009 report, the company said energy, large-scale engineering and support services to the energy sector drive demand for office space in the city and, with the recent pullback in energy prices, many energy companies have already been, or will soon be, scaling back their plans and capital budgets for 2009, which will impact the demand for office space in the Calgary market for 2009 and beyond.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Offi...9434/story.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109ALTA
U. S. needs Alberta`s oil sands

Russia behaves like a goon toward its European energy customers; Saudi Arabia, Iran and others export terrorism; Nigeria is unstable and Venezuela`s Hugo Chavez spews hatred. All of which means there is little choice for the United States and the world but to embrace, and possibly finance, Alberta`s oil sands.

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s...html?id=1187181

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109REDR
Melcor prepares neighborhood of estate lots

A new estate neighbourhood is expected to attract buyers interested in being close to one of Red Deer`s prime natural areas.

Melcor Developments has finished clearing the land west of Piper Creek near Bannerman Close within Bower. Twenty-nine estate lots will be built there, with each of them backing onto green space. This area will be known as Creekside in Bower.

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

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0109HRVR
Co-op heading for High River

Calgary Co-op is expanding into High River, a town just south of Calgary.

The company announced it has bought five acres of land from Dundee Developments and plans to begin construction this year. A gas station, complete with a convenience store and car wash, will open in 2010, followed by a grocery store with an in-store pharmacy in 2011.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/Business/2009/01/17/8055991-sun.html