Vancouver skyline to gain seven new office towers (with video)

VANCOUVER -- A building boom downtown is creating much-needed office space in Vancouver, city officials say.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson helped break ground Thursday on The Exchange, a $200-million, 31-storey Credit Suisse office tower in the financial district, one of seven buildings now under construction downtown.

Robertson heralded the projects as an end to the citys business vacancy woes, as Vancouver remains one of North Americas tightest markets for office space.

Vancouvers vacancy rate for Class A office space sits at 5.3 per cent. That compares with 8.7 per cent in Montreal and 9.7 per cent in Edmonton. But according to Cushman and Wakefield, Vancouvers vacancy rate is projected to jump to 7.7 per cent this year and to 10.5 per cent in 2015.

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When it comes to the strength of Vancouvers office market, weve come a long way in the last five years. Robertson said. A few years ago our economy was being held back by a lack of space, we had a critical shortage and its wonderful to see the market respond.

He said the city has approved as much office space in the last four years as in the previous decade. Up until recently, the city was projecting a critical shortage of office space by 2031 if land-use policies remained the same. Robertson said new zoning bylaws enacted in 2009 helped get the new towers off the ground. The seven towers under construction downtown will total 2.18-million square feet of new office space.

He said Credit Suisses decision to build from the ground up in Vancouver signals that international corporations realize the city is one of the strongest office markets in North America.

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Vancouver skyline to gain seven new office towers (with video)