by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Amid record vacancies, Class A rental rates plunge 56%.
Commercial real estate, particularly office space, in Calgary, Alberta, the epicenter of the Canadian oil bust with 1.2 million people, is collapsing at a breath-taking rate. As companies in the oil & gas sector have downsized or gone out of business, 25,000 people who used to work downtown have lost their jobs.
Office vacancy rates have soared to 22%, the highest on record, according to the second quarter report by commercial real estate services firm CBRE.