- What Calgary’s office market has continued to tighten
- Why Office conversions are part of the reason
- What next The threat of tariffs will loom over transactions
Calgary’s office market continued a trend of tightening in Q1, with availability dropping 330 bps, Savills said in a new report.
The market lost 2.6m sq ft of office inventory on a year-over-year basis, mostly due to conversions, bringing the city’s total inventory to 75.4m sq ft, the brokerage said.
Against that backdrop, the city’s office availability rate rested at 18.9%, down from 22.2% at the same time in 2024.
Asking rental rates saw upward pressure as supply tightened, with a 9.5% overall increase, reaching $36.15/sq ft. Class-A asking rates were up 6.8% year over year to $42.82/sq ft.
The central core and the northern section of downtown have driven leasing activity, with the two areas accounting for 43.7% of leased sq ft in the city in the first quarter.
Leasing rates in the northern part of downtown reached $47.23/sq ft, while the lowest rates were in the city’s northeast at $30.52/sq ft.
Meanwhile, Savills said, the usually dormant Downtown West End neighbourhood saw a big leasing boost with the University of Calgary signing a 152,000 sq ft lease at 801 Seventh Avenue.
Economic concerns caused by fears about the tariffs could loom over lease transaction volume as the year continues, Savills said. This comes as Alberta’s growth in office-using employment dropped to 1.3% year over year in February.
