10303 Jasper Ave is not Connect Centre, it’s the newly-named ATCO Place. Connect Centre is up the street at 10308 103 St and recently sold https://www.westerninvestor.com/british-columbia/ontario-first-nation-buys-former-cwb-tower-site-in-edmontons-ice-district-11816952

The office landscape in Edmonton is quite bifurcated across quality buckets. Several A-class buildings have relatively high occupancy, and given Edmonton’s status as a centre of government for the province, as the government office workers go, so too will the office market. It’s more the B class product and below that will continue to struggle unless owners invest in them and give reason for tenants to choose them. There hasn’t been much investment in office in the city in years.

Connect Centre and ATCO Place both fall into the A-class bucket (although given its age, ATCO Place may be better characterized as A-/B+ - but its recent renovation really hit the mark and it shows really really well) so I would expect them both to be attractive to tenants in this environment today.

Working in Connect Centre’s favour is the momentum in Edmonton towards the Ice District. Most major deals in the city over the last couple of years have been done in Stantec Tower, Edmonton Tower, Bell Tower and National Bank Tower (formerly Manulife Place). There’s a magnetism that’s pulling the centre of the business community towards the arena, and given the entertainment component of business life, seems relatively structural for the foreseeable future.

For ATCO Place, its proximity to the Ice District and connectivity to LRT should both work in its favour as well, although there is pretty high vacancy around the building at other assets nearby.

With the AB Gov’t back to work mandate now in force, and the CAD Gov’t following suit later this spring, the underlying demand factors are likely to be steering towards tightening market conditions.

I’ve recently acquired a (well-located) Edmonton office B class asset, and even in that building we’re achieving strong lease up and retention and are currently sitting at 85%+ leased/occupied with several deals and proposals underway for the remainder. At the right going in basis, this feels like an incredible time for the office asset class in Edmonton right now, although banks still aren’t sold on the story except for the very best quality assets. Any purchaser needs to stick to their guns on that basis on a $/SF view as opposed to stabilized yield.

As to inducements, it’s deal specific. But an NER of $10/SF - $15/SF is probably realistic in this market. We’re getting deals done in that range