Despite the woes of the Canadian oil industry, retail vacancy rates in Calgary dropped from 2.7 per cent to 2.2 per cent this year and nearly 14 million square feet of new retail development is either being proposed or currently under construction. The report by Barclay Street Real Estate, said American retailer Target’s departure from Canada will skew the current vacancy rate, roughly doubling the total vacant space in Calgary, as an estimated 725,000 square feet of retail space will come back on the market with the closing of these stores.
Jonathan Gheron, a retail associate with Barclay Street Real Estate says, “Our economy has been thriving. There’s competition for current good space and the additions of this space I believe most of it will get absorbed.
“Overall, the consensus for Calgary is still positive. There’s still people who want to come here and open stores. The economy the way it is, is unfortunate but we haven’t seen a slowdown in retail. It’s still a very active market.”
