Students look to reduce Calgary’s office vacancy rate

A group of university students is looking for ways to help fill empty office space in Calgary.

The Vivacity challenge is one of four student led projects looking to reduce the office vacancy rate and bring young people to the downtown core.

Dr. Catherine Pearl, assistant professor of social innovation at Mount Royal University, says young people can play a huge role when it comes to diversifying the city’s city.

“It is in an economic downturn and we have these incredible assets at our fingertips in terms of empty office space, so if we can create an environment that allows entrepreneurs, students and young people to explore and innovate, I think it could be quite a powerful change to the city,” Dr. Pearl said.

One of those projects is Forge Collaborative Brewing which focuses on a U-brew concept.

Sara McMullan fourth year business student at Mount Royal University says it’s “A place for young people to come after work, come for a beer in our tap room where we only serve local Calgary brews or they can come and brew a batch of beer with their friends instead of going out just for a drink or to a movie.”

According to Calgary Economic Development the vacancy rate in Calgary could hit 30 percent of all spaces within the next year.

Paint bottles and water waits to be used in the Roost section of Mount Royal University's Vivacity challenge in Calgary on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. The project, or challenge, sets up four teams to reimagine the unused spaces in downtown Calgary that will appeal to the millennial generation. (Photo by Chelsey Harms/660 NEWS) An empty office in the old Encana Building now Aspen Properties in Calgary on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. (Photo by Chelsey Harms/660 NEWS) Kelsey Prout, left, Katrina Toma, second from left, and Courtney Clarkson have fun while prepping their Mount Royal University Vivacity challenge project Roost in Calgary on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. The project, or challenge, sets up four teams to reimagine the unused spaces in downtown Calgary that will appeal to the millennial generation. (Photo by Chelsey Harms/660 NEWS) Sara McMullan, a fourth year business student at Mount Royal University, prepares for the introduction of hers and her teams Vivacity challenge project, Forge Collaboration Brewing in Calgary on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. The project, or challenge, sets up four teams to reimagine the unused spaces in downtown Calgary that will appeal to the millennial generation. (Photo by Chelsey Harms/660 NEWS) Forge Collaborative Brewing, a project set up by a team at Mount Royal University for the Vivacity challenge in Calgary on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. The project, or challenge, sets up four teams to reimagine the unused spaces in downtown Calgary that will appeal to the millennial generation. (Photo by Chelsey Harms/660 NEWS) Forge Collaborative Brewing, a project set up by a team at Mount Royal University for the Vivacity challenge in Calgary on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. The project, or challenge, sets up four teams to reimagine the unused spaces in downtown Calgary that will appeal to the millennial generation. (Photo by Chelsey Harms/660 NEWS)

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