Author Archive
Are Property Rights Under Assault?
In the 12 October edition of The Calgary Herald, it is reported that a member of City Council is seeking to block development of private land. The subject site is the Shaw-Nee Golf Course. The private golf course was uneconomic and its owners decided to sell. The new owners seek to develop the land into [...]
BOMA Presentation to SPC on Finance and Corporate Services
5 October 2011 Business Tax Consolidation BOMA is the representative association of commercial real estate which includes the owners of office, industrial and retail properties in Calgary. These owners are predominantly pension funds. By way of NM2011-20, and subsequent discussions with Aldermen and the administration, we took it on good faith that the underlying intent [...]
What has really been accomplished?
There are many supporters of the new system of residential waste removal in Calgary. But a good discussion question relates to what has really been accomplished? Waste reduction and recycling are easy concepts to embrace. If you accept the premise that the recycling decision, if not the actual process, commences at the time and the [...]
Why do we do that?
Are the people we rely on in our communities to keep us safe, really putting us at risk? There are several situations that cause me to believe that in some way, rigid design standards or regulations can actually be harmful. Most would agree that impaired drivers are a threat to everyone else on the road. [...]
The Business Tax Merry Go-Round
What follows is a summary of BOMA Calgary’s position on the issue of business tax and various proposals to “harmonize” or “eliminate” business taxes in the City of Calgary. This is a very significant issue and more information will be posted to the BOMA Blog as the matter evolves. At this particular juncture, there are [...]
Recognizing Commercial Real Estate’s Achievement for Sustainability
(Note: What follows is the script for the President’s Award for Sustainability in Commercial Real Estate w For many years, BOMA Calgary has been a leader in the area of the indoor environment and building sustainability. Our history in this regard goes back to the 1980’s when BOMA Calgary was part of the Federal Government’s [...]
Recognizing Youthful Achievement
(Note: At the BOMA Awards event on Wednesday evening, May 18, several members commented on the narrative leading up to the special recognition of one of BOMA’s younger members. What follows is the text of that speech.) Being in this business as long as I have I am still always inspired by BOMA volunteers, just [...]
Commercial Real Estate Deserves its Own Recognition
The recent issue of development fees charged by the City of Calgary has raised a number of issues that should concern owners, developers and operators of non-residential properties. There is a development agreement periodically negotiated by The City of Calgary and The Urban Development Institute (UDI) which, among other things sets down the fees which [...]
Development Fees are a Form of Unfair Subsidy and Hidden Tax.
The City is set to consider new development fees for new communities. Mayor Nenshi has publicly stated that the municipality does not recover its infrastructure investment over the life of a low-density housing unit. Policies for “densification” are in the works in an effort to reduce the proportion of low density housing in the city. [...]
Have We Thrown Good Transit “Under the Bus”?
Among one of the Tweets received today was a CBC poll – albeit, non-scientific – suggesting that 46% of respondents thought Calgary Transit was poor, 45% thought it was OK, just 2% thought it was fantastic, and 7% responded who cares about transit. In an unrelated article in today’s Globe & Mail (28 March 2011) Canada was [...]