Colliers Talks: The Pursuit of Downtown Vibrancy in Calgary and Vancouver

Downtown vibrancy and success partly stem from the amount of commercial and employment activity in the area, and especially the conditions of the office market. Office vacancy and return-to-office have been hot topics this year. In this episode of Colliers Talks, host Susan Thompson, Associate Director of Research at Colliers in Vancouver (and a former resident of Calgary), explores both Calgary’s and Vancouver’s unique, and similar, challenges and opportunities in the pursuit of vibrancy and long-term downtown success. Thompson is joined by Thom Mahler, director of downtown strategy at the City of Calgary and Eric Aderneck, regional planner with Metro Vancouver.Over the past two decades, Aderneck has worked in the public and private sectors focused on planning policy, real estate development and consulting. Aderneck also teaches urban planning courses for both planners and other city building professionals at various institutions.Mahler is the director leading the City of Calgary’s Downtown Strategy team, helping to steward the City’s $400 million investment to build a thriving, future-focused downtown. Throughout his career in Calgary, Mahler held various managerial roles in the City’s planning department where he was responsible for long-term planning, development review and land-use applications.