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Gentleperson's Bets

Think the permit came down a while ago on C2E iirc. One of us could probably drive a bulldozer through the building provided we knew it was empty. Hahaha.

I will guess short after they announce the next plans for phase 2 of the district.
 
RUMOUR or WISHFUL THINKING -- proposed twin tower for the soon-to-be-demolished casino site east of Roger's Place. An office tower for a major player on the Edmonton scene with international business locations (maybe PCL?) with a residential component on top -- twinned with another upscale hotel and residential mixed use tower. An architect with an international reputation (Frank Gehry?) -- differentiated entertainment elements in the podium. If true, I would love to see these renderings.
 
I'd be surprised if it is PCL, too. I could see one of the big four professional firms or something like that, unless PCL needs a lot more space all a sudden.
 
Given the current state of the office market, I'm extremely skeptical of any new Class A office space being built for a long time, unless we see a large amount of the current glut given over to other uses.

That said, I can't help but speculate what other movers and shakers in Edmonton might consider such a move that hasn't already consolidated (or otherwise made massive investments in other locations).
 
PCL and Frank Gehry were just guesses on my part -- I can't think of a group that would consolidate in one location that has international offices in other cities. PCL came to mind because they have divisional offices in many other cities. Gehry's office has been focusing on Canadian projects lately (Frank was originally from Ontario) -- so that was another (educated?) guess.
 
Still thinking about large employers that aren't already downtown or heavily invested in a campus that could potentially make the move. Looking at various lists, there are surprisingly few. The Brick and Finning could if they didn't mind splitting up their admin offices from their warehouses and yards.

Already getting on the smaller side, but there's Liquor Stores N.A. and Cash Store Financial, but neither of them have international presence. There are Calgary-based companies with large presences here, but that presence is primarily industrial. Not sure who else.

That said, if PCL is expecting a lot of growth they could also split some of their admin to downtown and free up campus space, but that seems very far-fetched to me.

Anyone I'm missing?
 
Yes, this is a tough one... maybe one of the oil companies. Canadian Utilities (Atco)? We'll have to wait and see, I guess.
 
On the flipside, the surprising thing I learned is how many of our largest employers and headquartered companies are already downtown: Stantec, Katz Group, Enbridge, ATB Financial, EPCOR, CWB, Telus, Atco Electric. Servus is the only real outlier with a large suburban headquarters (that isn't attached to an industrial yard or warehouse).
 
The only company I could see is Finning if they wanted to break up the professional services from the rest of their staff. The others all seem too small to get it done. I don't think the Brick is big enough at the administrative/professional level outside of its sales chain to do so.
 
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