Saskatoon Construction

[uofshuskies]

Originally Posted by ninipanini

I think the point that was being made is that the rate of growth in Saskatoon is faster... if the cities had the same population 25 years ago and now Saskatoon is 27,000 ahead, it's growth and consequentially housing starts would be greater. The difference in housing starts between the two cities has less to do with differences in size, and more to do with differences in the RATE of growth.

Thanks for clearing that up for TechnicalRecession. That's what I meant when I said in my final paragraph "The housing starts reflect the rate of growth of both cities fairly accurately. While Regina has been experiencing good growth over the past five years, it still hasn't matched Saskatoon's pace. Saskatoon, by last count, still roughly doubles Regina's rate of growth."

That trend is continuing this year. And I don't think it's a reflection of Saskatoon preferring house development vs. Regina preferring condo development. Over the past 10 years, Saskatoon has had far more multi-family developments (which are also counted as housing starts) than Regina. Saskatoon is just growing faster than Regina and there is more demand for all types of housing here.

Country summed up this year's lull in condo building downtown well. Coupled with the economic downturn, which hit the Lake Placid and Prairie Ecovillage projects, and core-area projects like the KG, the Second Avenue lofts, the Riverfront on 24th and Spadina, the Luxe and the various warehouse conversions, it was a lot for a small market like Saskatoon to absorb.

I expect to see River Landing under construction soon, and we will likely see the Prairie Ecovillage and condos behind St. John's Cathedral on Spadina under construction next year.

[lbird]

Not as 🞵🞵🞵🞵 as some other projects, but there's been lots of progress on the Pleasant Hill revitalization project and some various projects along 22nd. I'll try and get some pictures up soon.

[socialisthorde]

Originally Posted by lbird

Have you ever eaten at Octane? It sucked. Tim Horton's is miles better, and I won't have to worry about food poisoning anymore. I can't speak to the dignity of minimum wage workers at Octane vs. minimum wage workers at Tim Horton's, but I don't imagine its miles different.

If you got food poisoining why would you consider going back and if you weren't considering going back, why would you worry? Haven't eaten at Octane to be honest, but I have eaten at Tim Horton's (once; and I won't worry about going back) and it was probably the blandest food I have ever eaten, including the coffee and donut. With regard to dignity, I have worked in fast food restaurants, chain restaurants and local restaurants. I always found it easier to have a little dignity at the latter (didn't have a wear a polysester uniform and didn't have to sing for people's birthdays) and I made more money - many local restaurants pay better than minimum wage and the tips tended to be better.

But that is all an aside. My point was that with every chain restaurant that opens there has to be one less local restaurant and that means more homogeneity. I guess if we are striving for mediocrity that isn't a problem, but somehow, I hope for more.

[Echoes]

From the City Council agenda for this Wednesday, item G1 (p. 97) is recommending that Council declare its support for the proposed School of Architecture and that Administration be given permission to enter into formal discussions with the U of S regarding the school.

AKA... the U of S wants to know what the City might be willing to contribute to support the establishment of the school; be it land, facilities... the John Deere Warehouse?

http://www.saskatoon.ca/CITY%20COUNCIL/Documents/agendas/fa_council_210710.pdf

[Jerry]

A little summer reading.

Up close and personal with Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison and wife Mardele


Photo Source

[kgc087]

A full body scanner imaging system is now up and running at the John G. Diefenbaker International Airport.

Saskatoon Airport Authority president and CEO Bill Restall said Monday the device was installed at the airport's security area during the past week.

Testing and training involving the full body scanner is still underway, but passengers are being screened through the device when a system operator is on-site. Restall said the machine will be available for passengers at all times after training is completed in the coming weeks.

The full body scanner generates images of the body without contact between the screening officer and the passenger and allows for the detection of items that may be concealed under clothing.

Restall said the scanner will only be used for secondary screening after primary screening has been completed.

"It's important for passengers to understand it is only when they have triggered security screening equipment or have been randomly selected for secondary screening that the full body scanner comes into play," he said.

"In those instances, passengers will be informed they have a choice between a full body scan or a physical search."

The full body scanner works by projecting low-level radio frequency energy over and around the passenger's body. The process takes about five seconds.

The radio frequency energy emitted by the device is safe for human exposure and, according to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, passenger privacy is protected throughout the screening.

More information about the full body scanner imaging process can be found at www.catsa.gc.ca.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/City+airport+gets+full+body+scanner/3298513/story.html#ixzz0uEWNibeK
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Airport Statistics

Air travel in Saskatchewan continues to set new records in the 1st quarter of 2010. Passenger traffic started strong with January showing an all-time record of 115,223 passengers and February continuing the trend with the second highest month on record of 109,147. March closed out the quarter, with just under 102,000 passengers passing through the terminal, making it the 4th consecutive month to surpass 100,000 passengers! Year to date we see a 6% increase over the first quarter of 2009.

Much of the increased traffic is due to our most extensive winter charter program ever with 18 weekly charters to warm destinations. Transborder traffic to the USA also increased by 17% due to added US destinations and increased flight frequencies.
Steady growth has been experienced for the last five years at the Saskatoon Airport. Monthly statistics show passenger traffic growth is up 52% over January of 2005 and 40% over February of 2005.
____________________________________________________
Terminal Expansion Project
Terminal layout
Increased passenger traffic has resulted in the Airport advancing the terminal and redevelopment project. Currently the ten-year, $85 million Airport capital program includes plans for a $30 million terminal expansion which is scheduled to begin the spring of 2011. The expansion will provide for additional retail and food/beverage concessions and passenger holding area post security screening. Plans for the terminal expansion can be found on the Saskatoon Airport Authority website at www.yxe.ca.
____________________________________________
Air Service Updates
Our Airline partners continue to respond to the demands of the marketplace.

Air Canada Introduces Halifax Direct!
Air Canada
This maritime connection will be introduced in early May with a daily Ottawa/Halifax (same plane) routing. This flight will replace the current Ottawa/Montreal flight.
www.aircanada.com
West Jet – Las Vegas Direct Continues:
WestJet
Las Vegas direct twice weekly flights will continue until mid-May and will begin again in late summer.
www.westjet.com
United Airlines Announces Changes to Chicago Flight:
United
Effective June 9 daily service to Chicago will now depart at 0730 out of Saskatoon and leave Chicago at 5 p.m. to arrive in Saskatoon around 8 p.m. A stop in Regina will also be included.
www.united.com
Delta Airlines Increases Daily Service to Minneapolis:
Delta
Delta Airlines is now operating four flights daily to Minneapolis.
www.delta.com
Transwest Airlines:
Transwest
Transwest continues scheduled service to Fort McMurray three days a week.
www.transwestair.com
Pronto Airlines:
Pronto
Effective April 19 Pronto Airways schedule includes Thursday departures out of Saskatoon to Rankin Inlet and Baker Lake.
www.prontoairways.com
Did you know? Congratulations to Pronto Airways on receiving the North Saskatoon Business Association (NSBA) Team Building Award at the 2010 NSBA Awards Gala in March.
__________________________________________
The last three articles are from the spring newsletter. YXE is yet again performing extremely well this year! The full body scanner is a sign of growth and that YXE is a major airport. With continual added flights they can only to expand. With the scheduled airport expansion it will be interesting to see what flights are added b/c of the larger terminal.

[Hawker]

TransWest has actually dropped the Fort Mac flights...due to declining passenger levels. This is disappointing, but not surprising given the lower construction levels in Fort Mac.

[Jerry]

Office vacancy falls


The StarPhoenix July 21, 2010 3:09 AM


Saskatoon's office vacancy rate fell again in the second quarter, but space is on the way for companies looking for room to expand their businesses in Saskatoon, Colliers McClocklin Real Estate Corp. said Tuesday.

A dozen office developments have recently been completed, planned or proposed for the city, said company president Tom McClocklin, adding the developments could add more than 500,000 square feet of office space to the Saskatoon market.

"In both the downtown and suburban office markets, Saskatoon is seeing much-needed expansion to meet current and future demand," McClocklin said. "Office space demand is being driven by both existing and new tenants who are seeking the opportunities in Saskatchewan and are growing accordingly."

Data supplied by the local firm shows Saskatoon's office vacancy rate dropped to 4.6 per cent in the second quarter from 6.14 per cent in the first quarter.

Class-A office vacancy, meanwhile, dropped to an all-time low of 0.59 per cent, the company said, leaving virtually no such space available until developers proceed with some of the proposed office projects.

Included in Colliers' list of completed, planned or proposed projects are the River Landing (100,000 square feet) and 2seven5 (184,000 square feet) developments, which are both proposed and both located downtown.

Meanwhile, 510 Cope Way (30,000 square feet) in Stonebridge and 1802 Eighth St. East (9,500 square feet) are expected to be completed in winter and summer 2010, respectively, while both 203 Stonebridge Blvd. (30,000 square feet) and 3333 Eighth St. East (20,700 square feet) were recently completed.

Lease rates for office space have remained stable, the company said, with average net rates for existing downtown Class A and suburban office space ranging from $20 to $27 per square foot, while rents in Class B buildings range between $18 and $22 per square foot.

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
Source

[Echoes]

^ Nice to see that 2seven5 is still getting a mention. What a confidence boost it would be to see that tower go ahead sooner rather than later.
____________________________________________

Here's another SP article from today about a City initiative that could have great impact on vacant lots and abandoned buildings found around downtown and in the core neighbourhoods, what the City is calling the "Vacant Lot Development and Adaptive Reuse Incentive Program." From yesterday's agenda of the Planning & Operations Committee, pgs. 51-76 concern this program: http://www.saskatoon.ca/DEPARTMENTS/City...s/Documents/agendas_2010/a_po_200710.pdf. A good read I thought, and it outlines some of the carrot and stick strategies that the City is looking at pursuing. Sounds like a promising program.

City eyes solutions to vacant lot problem

By David Hutton, The StarPhoenix July 21, 2010

The city is eyeing an incentive program in an attempt to spur development of the hundreds of vacant lots and derelict buildings in Saskatoon's downtown and older neighbourhoods.

More than 115 acres of vacant lots of abandoned buildings -- the equivalent of an entire neighbourhood -- exist inside of Circle Drive.

The proposed policy would pay the developer five years of property taxes in the form of a cash grant at the completion of the project. The amount the developer receives would be based on a point system based on the type of development and how well it meets certain criteria set out by the city.

"The program encourages infill," said Randy Grauer, manager of planning and development for the city.

"Perpetually vacant properties are a thorn in the side of older historic neighbourhoods."

The vacant lot program was presented for the first time to the city's planning and operations committee Tuesday and will now go through a consultation phase with local developers.

The goal is to have the program up and running by next year, the report said, and to create a vacant lot inventory to make it easier for developers to find potential sites.

The vacant lot program would replace the municipal enterprise zone, a lauded incentive program dating to 2002 designed to encourage investment and redevelopment in several core neighbourhoods.

Coun. Pat Lorje said there also needs to be a disincentive program to force absentee owners to do something with vacant sites. Incentives won't spur the activity the city is hoping for, she said.

The property maintenance bylaw needs to be beefed up to force owners to clean up vacant lots that contribute to neighbourhood blight, Lorje said.

"We need something to deal with derelict buildings and then something to deal with vacant lots," said Lorje. "We need the carrot and the stick."

The city report said the use of fees or disincentives to spur development could unfairly penalize those who intend to develop the vacant sites.

[email protected]

What qualifies?

A vacant lot is any site where a building has been demolished, a building has been without use for three years or any brownfield site with environmental contamination. The city is also including adaptive reuse projects on commercial or industrial sites that have been "substantially abandoned" for three years.

Vacant lots inside Circle Drive

Residential -- 142

Multi-family -- 15

Commercial -- 271

--Source: City of Saskatoon

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/City+...ry.html?cid=megadrop_story#ixzz0uKOsv3VR

[Morogolus]

*Yawn*

You would think in the middle of construction season that we would have more to talk about. A new Tim Hortons opening, wow...

I actually heard on the radio that they're starting crews 24/7 because they're so behind on the CDS project. That's awesome, I hope the city can learn a thing or two about working through the night from this rather than shutting off a lane of Circle in the middle of the day, disrupting thousands of drivers to paint lines on the road or some other lame thing then leaving the lane closed all day and night after their 4 hour workday ends. Although I'm sure they will learn absolutely nothing.

[macca]

Are gravel parking lots considered vacant?

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by macca

Are gravel parking lots considered vacant?

From the report included in the agenda it sounds like surface parking lots were included in the "428 vacant developable sites" counted within Circle Drive.

Sounds like any incentives the program creates will be applicable to gravel parking lots. What I will watch most closely is what disincentives the City comes up with to creating gravel parking lots in the first place (especially downtown). Again from the agenda, on p.72 it discusses "Restrictions on Surface Parking" and possible policy options to address them:
- making surface parking lots in the downtown a discretionary use would allow Council to place conditions on surface lots (e.g.- how long they can last) or to prohibit them altogether.
- requiring active uses to front the street and screen surface parking in the back of a lot (new to Regina)
- the report recommends that through the City Centre Plan, new zoning approaches be investigated to address surface parking in the downtown.

Remember of course that if the Zoning Bylaw is amended to make surface parking in the downtown a discretionary use, existing surface lots would be "grandfathered" in. That's where incentives come in to encourage their development anyway. Carrot and stick.

[macca]

They need to create "disincentives" for tearing down buildings and making gravel parking lots that don't unduly hamper the developer's ability to finance a development. That said, projects like 275 are bad for downtown (until they are built) because they removed good quality, actively used buildings and left a dead zone. If the project is never built, then we are left with a gravel lot where 3 buildings once stood containing a variety of uses.

Of course the issue is not so simple. The developer intends to knock down the buildings to make way for his mega tower, perhaps very soon. So he kicks everyone out and demolishes so the project is "shovel ready" for when MegaCorp. X comes along to lease their new tower. Then nothing happens for 2 year. The alternative is to keep the buildings and continue leasing them to existing tenants until MegaCorp. X finally moves to Saskatoon, economic powerhouse of the NEW WEST. However, tenants in the building are likely to not renew their leases as they want to find new digs as soon as possible. They don't want to be left without a home when the developer does decide it's time to build.

So in the meantime we're left with a sea of gravel and no garuantee that it will ever be anything but. They City essentially gambles that the developer will come through.

[kgc087]

It is great to see infill happening! Hopefully this does not breed mindless stucco low-mid rise buildings though. I think I would rather have the vacant lot since it is not permanent, then some horrid uninspiring box. Perhaps the promotion should encourage high density lifestyle condos and mixed use buildings?

[kgc087]

Not very construction related at all, but still a tool used in urban planning and predictions, the census. I hope you all are pro long form mandatory census. Think of how shotty our stats would be without it. If you are sign the petition and keep it alive! http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/keep-the-canadian-census-long-form.html

Removing this would harm social assistance programs etc and could really taint a cities urban vibe since poverty stricken people will not be properly recognized and taken care of.

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by kgc087

Perhaps the promotion should encourage high density lifestyle condos and mixed use buildings?

The incentive amount ($$$) provided to developers under the program will be determined by a points system. Applicants can earn more points if their project is of a certain use or includes certain features, such as:
- high rise housing
- mixed-use
- streetscape improvements, etc.....

Hopefully this will encourage developers to bring forward quality projects in order to score as many points as possible.

[kgc087]

Originally Posted by Country

The incentive amount ($$$) provided to developers under the program will be determined by a points system. Applicants can earn more points if their project is of a certain use or includes certain features, such as:
- high rise housing
- mixed-use
- streetscape improvements, etc.....

Hopefully this will encourage developers to bring forward quality projects in order to score as many points as possible.

Good point.

If anyone is interested in sending a letter to the people handling this incentive project let me know. I have their emails and am going to write them with some of my ideas. I can add anyones with mine.

[Wyku]

Was anyone following the story on BHP Billiton putting in a request to the City for a 5-year tax break on their new office downtown? It sounds like they have since withdrawn it though. It seems really odd that they would wait until now to put this request in when the building is already built and the signage is up? Mayor Atch seemed gung-ho about giving it to them though saying it's a perk to get big companies to set-up offices here...but they are already setup? Again, weird stuff.

[Jerry]

Yes I did read that this morning and didn't know what to think. Maybe BHP Billiton wants to make a good impression which they have by withdrawing the request.

[Measuring Stick]

Originally Posted by Jerry

Yes I did read that this morning and didn't know what to think. Maybe BHP Billiton wants to make a good impression which they have by withdrawing the request.

I am all for Tax Abatement incentives, but agree with both of you. When the company is already there and in a new building why give it???

If you do that I am pretty sure Cameco and others will be attending a efw Council meetings to ask for the same. Or maybe whoever takes over Lake Placid's eventual office building.