Edmonton to tackle rising downtown office vacancies

Edmonton’s city officials will be meeting Tuesday to discuss matters including the rise in office vacancies in the downtown core.

The city could hit a 30 per cent vacancy rate by 2020 as new space becomes available while existing unoccupied inventory is not being absorbed.

Properties such as the former BMO and HSBC buildings are mostly unoccupied, the Edmonton Journal reports. However, both buildings have new owners with planning proposals.

Proposals being considered include setting up a taskforce which would look at the benefits of concerting some existing real estate to housing or educational facilities.

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