Lots of discussion on SSP about a 500 condo + 175 hotel room tower for Eau Claire. That's huge! Anyone on this forum know more about this?

Sounded like a single tower, but I can't imagine so many floors in that location.

There aren't that many Calgarians on here so I doubt people here would know.

Some of us from the CUI saw the plans a few months ago. What we saw was twin 30 story (or 35 story... can't remember) towers that had both hotel and condo in each of them.

^^ that makes more sense from a scale perspective. thx.

A Canadian city on US television for something other than SARS!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/20/60minutes/main1225184.shtml

The Oil Sands Of Alberta

excerpts ...
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(CBS) There’s an oil boom going on right now. Not in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or any of those places, but 600 miles north of Montana.

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There are 175 billion barrels of proven oil reserves here. That’s second to Saudi Arabia’s 260 billion but it’s only what companies can get with today’s technology. The estimate of how many more barrels of oil are buried deeper underground is staggering.

"We know there’s much, much more there. The total estimates could be two trillion or even higher," says Clive Mather, Shell's Canada chief. "This is a very, very big resource."

Very big? That’s eight times the amount of reserves in Saudi Arabia.

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"I think it’s bigger than a gold rush. We’re expecting $100 billion over the next 10 years to be invested in this area — $100 billion in a population that, currently, is 70,000 people," says Brian Jean, who represents the region in Canada’s parliament.

---

2 TRILLION BARRELS?!?! Let's go Alberta... You & B.C. can rule the world.

2 TRILLION BARRELS?!?! Let's go Alberta... You & B.C. can rule the world.

Amen brother! with the big American market and China thrashing at the door we can help and provide,with development,supply both at the same time.Oh, Alberta and the West is just beginning!


The way I see it is that The City of Calgary (Alberta) is just embarking on a threshold of discovery. The staggering growth will continue and swell into a massive economic level never seen in North America...if demand escalates for Oil.
We are looking on special times as did the Cartel in the 70's

The way I see it is that The City of Calgary (Alberta) is just embarking on a threshold of discovery. The staggering growth will continue and swell into a massive economic level never seen in North America...if demand escalates for Oil.
We are looking on special times as did the Cartel in the 70's


Oilsands output in 2015 will be approx 2 milliom bpd...

Your conventional oil reserves are falling now and are not being replaced as is natural gas..... not a good scenario long term......

google "The Oil Drum" for an eye opening experience

This could be interesting for those in Calgary ... tickets are free at the Epcor Centre. He's the guy behind the silly Ontario College of Art and Design building.

Stirring Culture - A presentation by Will Aslop
Jack Singer Concert Hall, EPCOR CENTRE
February 27, 2006
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

http://www.acad.ab.ca/will_alsop.html

excerpt:

Will is one of the most prominent British architects working on the international scene. He belongs to a generation of modern architects who follow no theoretical school. Observing the practical conclusion of modernist tenets in elegant engineering exercises, he has fought for the assertion of individual creativity in architecture in the belief that it can contribute to the lives of people and communities. Though an architect of international standing and experience, Will forms localized responses in his work, which extends beyond the project site to include the canvas of street and town, users and history. This attention centres on personal experience of the brief, the client and an attempt to draw out aspirations rather than impose solutions. The brief grows organically from debate and experiment and engenders spontaneous resolutions that materialize into unique structures.

Will follows a parallel path as an artist and feels the two disciplines inseparable. He was a tutor of sculpture at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design, London for several years, has held many other academic posts. Will actively promotes the artistic contribution to built environments; forming collaborations with many artists in different media to this end. Admitting fluidity and impermanence into both art and architecture has informed his work confirming his belief that to build is to exercise the eye and the heart rather than the intellect.

http://www.alsoparchitects.com/

The way I see it is that The City of Calgary (Alberta) is just embarking on a threshold of discovery. The staggering growth will continue and swell into a massive economic level never seen in North America...if demand escalates for Oil.
We are looking on special times as did the Cartel in the 70's


Oilsands output in 2015 will be approx 2 milliom bpd...

Your conventional oil reserves are falling now and are not being replaced as is natural gas..... not a good scenario long term......

google "The Oil Drum" for an eye opening experience

The key is development, and with over $100 billion in development in the oilsands, production capasities are ever increasing. Yes conventional oil production is decreasing as expected but natural gas deposits are still incrediable in size. The oilsands contains 8 times the volume of Saudi Arabia.

As long as the price per barrel remains high enough the oilsands can be developed to a point where production costs drop, we see that already happeing as costs are nearing conventional production costs. If there is demand for that oil and investors to develop it equals prosperity for Albertans. Alberta is a great place to be right now.

I see the "The Oil Drum" understands the reduced resources world wide, but Alberta isn't finding that a problem.

Perhaps the world could look at Alberta as a viable resource supply.

The median single residential assessment value (excluding condos) is $250,500.

The median improved condo assessment is $151,000.

The typical market value residential increase over the previous year is 8.4%.

The typical market value non-residential increase is 13.8%.

^Really? Only $250k? Maybe that makes sense I guess....what the city assesses the property for, and what it sells for are two very different things.

On top of that, my property taxes went DOWN this year!

my property taxes went DOWN this year!

You can't know that yet, as the increase in tax rate has not been applied (happens in May - four months from now). The assessment notice you received would have listed your new assessment multiplied by a revenue neutral rate. This would equal your tax on a revenue neutral basis. The revenue neutral amount will be less than last year as there will be more properties that the city collects from now versus the last time around. That is NOT your new property tax amount. Based on what the city agrees to, and I'm hearing 4.5% increase in revenue required, that percentage will be applied to your revenue neutral amount.

So, the average assessment went up 8.4%, and if the agreed to increase is 4.5%, then that average assessment home will have an increase of somewhere *less than* 4.5% ... perhaps ~4%, due to the revenue neutral calculation, because of city growth.

Makes sense?

Quick facts about the assessments:
http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_395_203_0_47/http%3B/content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+Hall/Business+Units/Assessment/2006+Assessment+Values+-+Quick+Facts.htm

Timeline of events:
http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_395_203_0_47/http%3B/content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+Hall/Business+Units/Assessment/Property+Assessment/Annual+Assessment+Cycle.htm

^alright, fair enough. I took a quick look at it, and saw the annual tax amount of about $1800, along with last year's of $1900. Guess I'll wait and see then...

^^ the $1800 would have been the 'revenue neutral' amount [look for the term 'revenue neutral' on the assessment]. I live in Calgary also, and got a similar assessment, and the 'revenue neutral' amount for 2006 went down as expected and explained. Same thing happened last year.

The following link explains your assessment:
http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_395_203_0_47/http;/content.calgary.ca/CCA/City%20Hall/Business%20Units/Assessment/Understanding%20your%20Assessment%20Notice/Understanding%20Your%20Property%20Assessment%20Notice.htm

excerpts:
"Your Assessment Notice is not your tax bill. Assessment notices are sent to provide our estimate of the value of your property upon which taxes will be based. Your tax bill is a separate document sent after Calgary City Council sets the municipal tax rate, usually in May."

"The annual re-valuation of properties (based on current market values) does not change the amount of municipal tax dollars received by The City of Calgary. To illustrate, based on the premise that there is no change in budget, the tax rate is adjusted up or down to account for the year-to-year change in market values.

So, if market values increase, the revenue neutral tax rate decreases and if market values decrease, the revenue neutral tax rate increases. The revenue effect of market value assessment change is "neutral" to The City of Calgary."

^ Of course I didn't read that! My wife just showed my the dollar amounts, and I was happy! Thanks for clarifying...