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Station Park | 18, 28, 36, 40, 50 fl | U/C
March 22.    
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Is construction starting on this project?
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(03-27-2020, 06:41 AM)rangersfan Wrote: Is construction starting on this project?
There wasn't a lot of activity happening when I took the picture, but I presume that those pile drivers were doing something.
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They were both going when I went by earlier today. All the sites except Drewlo were active downtown
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The gears keep turning
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I feel like construction on this and all other projects will slow down with the virus pandemic. We've not seen the peak of that thing, so as the weeks/months go on, it's going to impact the construction industry regardless of whether or not it's deemed essential. Workers are going to become sick and money will start to dry up. In fact, I'd say that this world event could very well signal the end of this real estate/construction boom for the foreseeable future because the economic impacts have been expected to parallel what happened to the world following the 1918 influenza. I suspect few new projects will really be announced, and what exists will lose a chunk of its value. I feel bad for anyone who spent a couple hundred thousand on a condo or who opened a new business downtown.
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Those sound like pretty reasonable predictions. In the short term, it's hard to see how ongoing construction activities would keep up their pace- as you say, workers will get sick or need to stay at home to take care of loved ones. Even before that, everything must be getting more difficult.

Probably you're right, too, about this boom/bubble being stopped in its tracks for a while. Bad timing indeed for those who just got into it.
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(03-29-2020, 09:18 AM)ac3r Wrote: I feel like construction on this and all other projects will slow down with the virus pandemic. We've not seen the peak of that thing, so as the weeks/months go on, it's going to impact the construction industry regardless of whether or not it's deemed essential. Workers are going to become sick and money will start to dry up. In fact, I'd say that this world event could very well signal the end of this real estate/construction boom for the foreseeable future because the economic impacts have been expected to parallel what happened to the world following the 1918 influenza. I suspect few new projects will really be announced, and what exists will lose a chunk of its value. I feel bad for anyone who spent a couple hundred thousand on a condo or who opened a new business downtown.

The construction will slow indeed, due to either unavailability of workers, or to shortages of materials (as the supply chain experiences worker shortages or shutdowns).

But the impact is unlikely to be anywhere near the 1918 influenza numbers. Back then, something like 40M people died worldwide, and up to half of those may have been in the 18-40 age bracket, or prime working age. While the COVID-19 impact is still very much unknown, the deaths may be an order of magnitude lower (better economic conditions, better hygiene, better medical care) and most of the dead are people who are out of the workforce, whether retired or disabled due to other medical conditions.

We'll have to wait and see what happens with the new projects. There are still quite a few in the pipeline, but it's impossible to judge right now whether they will still go ahead once the conditions ease, or whether the developers will start pulling plugs.
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As long as we don't end up with half-finished towers marring the skyline for years to come ....
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It will be interesting to see how the local building boom will be affected over the next 18 months. In particular:
- Border restrictions will likely not allow as many international students or international employment recruitment (though this could go both ways as we have prospective students who might have traveled elsewhere for school, I suspect that the area is a net importer of students and talent)
- What has the stock market ride done for venture capitalists who have been pouring money into start-ups while searching for unicorn companies?
- What has this ride done for smaller investors who might have been looking to invest in real estate?

On the flip side:
- If people are needing to prepare to work from home for longer periods of time, might that that change what they might want for a place to live? The most recent developments have assumed that buyers would trade-off a smaller home in exchange for an ability to work and play elsewhere. Suddenly, having a room (like a den or a second bedroom) where you can park you teleworking work space seems like a good idea.
- If the move is towards greater social distancing, how will that drive current philosophies of road space, multiuse trails and sidewalks? Will setbacks be increased in favour developers giving strips of land to the city to allow for wider sidewalks? When walking in the suburbs, it's easier to walk around someone on a boulevard than it is on a narrower downtown sidewalk.
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(03-31-2020, 01:12 AM)nms Wrote: - If the move is towards greater social distancing, how will that drive current philosophies of road space, multiuse trails and sidewalks? Will setbacks be increased in favour developers giving strips of land to the city to allow for wider sidewalks? When walking in the suburbs, it's easier to walk around someone on a boulevard than it is on a narrower downtown sidewalk.

Personally, I don’t expect anything to change. Most likely, we’ll just go right back to doing exactly what we were doing before, including having no spare hospital capacity and having fire doors closed all over the place (rather than being on electromagnetic door holders so they stand open until the alarm is triggered).

But I could be surprised. It’s pretty much unpredictable what will actually trigger a lasting change in policy and behaviour.
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(03-31-2020, 01:12 AM)nms Wrote: It will be interesting to see how the local building boom will be affected over the next 18 months. In particular:
- Border restrictions will likely not allow as many international students or international employment recruitment (though this could go both ways as we have prospective students who might have traveled elsewhere for school, I suspect that the area is a net importer of students and talent)

Conestoga College has already cut back their expansion plans.
https://www.therecord.com/news-story/991...-students/
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Just as things were getting ramped up for them. Huge source of income, 3/4 of tuition. Wow.
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Looks like the new shutdowns hit this site? Nobody working today when I drove by around 2:30.
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I received an email today updating the project. it is 90 percent sold and they will be continuing construction again in the upcoming weeks .
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