GOOD NEWS FOR LABOUR MARKET
Councillor Druh Farrell, middle, and Anthem Property CEO Eric Carlson complete a groundbreaking for the Waterfront condo project Thursday that will provide up to 5,000 jobs over the duration of construction on Riverfront Avenue.
Western Canadian developer Anthem Properties brought some good news to Calgary’s labour market Thursday.
The developer of the Waterfront condo project in the Eau Claire neighbourhood said it’s moving ahead with the next phase of development that will create more than 250 direct construction jobs.
Four buildings totalling 624 units — all sold — were completed in the project’s first phase. The next stage, called Parkside, will eventually consist of six buildings comprising 361 units, of which 85 per cent are sold.
Eric Carlson, chief executive of Anthem Properties Group, said each housing start has the potential to create five direct and indirect jobs.
“That means construction of Waterfront’s upcoming 361 homes could create as many as 1,800 local jobs. Over the lifetime of construction, we will have created as many as 5,000 jobs,” he said.
“We launched construction of Waterfront in 2007 and have persevered through changing markets"
The entire project is expected to be completed by spring 2018.
“There is a bit of a softening ( in the housing market) but it’s really not as bad as one might think given that huge drop in such an important industry ( energy) to this province," said Carlson.
“This project is going ahead at a time when a lot of the projects aren’t going ahead and we are proud of that and we’re confident in doing that. We are digging a first hole today but the real big hole starts in a few days and it will go non- stop until we are done”
Councillor Druh Farrell, who attended a launch event at the construction site Thursday, praised Anthem “for continuing with this project in a difficult economy.
“Thank you for developing when construction jobs are so critical to our economy,” she said. “This is a challenging market.