Calgary office buildings are confident they have all their extra security measures in place for next week’s G8 summit in Kananaskis Country.
Security preparations in the real estate community have been going on for months, says Bill Partridge, executive vice-president of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Calgary.
“We tell people to carry on business as normal but be prudent,” he says. “They should be concerned, but not more for G8 than, say, for Stampede.”
Richard Chenoweth, president of Securitas Canada, the largest licensed security company in Canada, says plans for G8 security staffing were set in motion months ago. “It’s been a planned increase, not a knee-jerk reaction like after 9-11, when nobody was ready,” he says.
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| Mike Sturk, Business Edge |
| BOMA executive director Bill Partridge says most building operators are ready. |
Security guards have to be licensed and trained, but “asking how much training is like asking how long is a piece of string,” he says, adding that different firms prepare differently.
Chenoweth says the security business has seen a significant boost, but he can’t quantify the increase.
Partridge says building managers and owners upgraded security after Sept. 11 last year, and more work has been going on since the summit was announced.
Most operators have reviewed their security procedures and determined whether they were appropriate. Procedures have been reviewed, tested and amended as needed.
If they haven’t taken care of business by now, they’re probably out of luck, Partridge says, because it may be too late to order some security upgrades.
BOMA asked building managers to look at their buildings’ protest risk. “People don’t protest against buildings, but against people who occupy those buildings and businesses which some people don’t like,” he says.
Some landlords have removed lobby signs that indicate the presence of tenants of a sensitive nature.
Partridge adds that security is a 24/7 proposition, and business and property managers are responsible for the safety of people and assets year-round. The G8 summit isn’t any different – but it’s at a different level of intensity, he says.
BOMA worked closely with G8 security people, especially the Calgary city police. It built a communications network that links virtually every building in the downtown core.
“With good weather and good luck it’ll be a non-event like WPC,” Partridge says.
The Calgary Homeless Foundation has honoured a retired real estate agent as its Volunteer of the Year for his efforts on behalf of the homeless.
Derek Lester, 81, was called “a constant source of inspiration and energy” by foundation president John Currie.
The homeless foundation also gave awards to a law firm and an energy company for showing outstanding support for the homelessness cause. The Community Contribution Awards went to Burnet Duckworth and Palmer, and TransCanada.
The housing market continued to be hot in May across the nation. Not all the warmth was generated in Alberta.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said the seasonally adjusted rate of housing starts increased 10.1 per cent in May compared to April.
Meanwhile, a Royal Bank survey showed Alberta continues to be one of the most affordable provinces in Canada to own a house.
And Statistics Canada’s new housing price index rose 0.6 per cent in April, with increases in 14 of 21 urban areas. The national statistical agency also reported that contractors took out a record value of building permits across the country in April.
In Calgary, the city reported that building permits issued in May were up five per cent from May of last year. City hall said permits issued in May were valued at $236.8 million, up from $226.5 million in 2001.
Of that, residential permits increased 22 per cent, to $142.4 million compared to $117.1 million. Single-family permits were up 20 per cent to $110.2 million from $92.1 million in May of 2001.
The value of non-residential permits dropped 14 per cent to $94.3 million from $109.5 million. Building permits issued in Calgary so far this year are worth $952.7 million, an increase of 17 per cent from $811.5 million in the first five months of 2001.
The city notes that building permits show construction industry intentions, not actual starts.
The RBC Financial Group said its housing affordability index shows Alberta as the second-most affordable province in the country to own a house.
Alberta came in at 28.3 per cent of pre-tax household income, down 0.4 per cent from a year ago. That works out to a monthly payment of $1,152 for an average detached bungalow for principal, interest, taxes and utilities.
The national average is $1,218.
RBC attributed the affordability to high incomes and reasonable house prices in Alberta. The report pegged average house prices at $165,500 in the first quarter, up 5.1 per cent from a year earlier.
In the first quarter, the cost of owning an average detached bungalow ranged from $891 a month or 26.3 per cent of household income in Atlantic Canada to $1,538 or 39.3 per cent of household income in B.C.
Nationally, the affordability index was at 31.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year. The CMHC report on housing starts said the seasonally adjusted rate reached 203,500 units in May, up from 184,500 in April. Seasonally adjusted annual rates are monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12.
Urban single-family starts rose 11 per cent to an annual rate of 107,200, compared to 96,600 in April. Multiple family starts were up 13.1 per cent.
The seasonally adjusted rate of single-family starts was the highest since January 1990 and the annual rate on the Prairies was the highest since May 1983, said CMHC.
Actual urban housing starts for the first five months are 27.8 per cent higher than in 2001. Actual single detached starts are up 37.7 per cent.
(Click here to e-mail Murdoch Macleod.)
