Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

'A Really Good Aura:' Calgary Office Tower Dog Friendly To Attract Tenants

The Canadian Press, 13 Sep, 2017 11:25 AM
    CALGARY — Man's best friend is moving on up — to the 16th floor of a downtown Calgary office building.
     
    As the city continues to suffer from a severe economic downturn caused by low oil prices, real estate firms are struggling to fill a glut of empty office buildings.
     
    When Aspen Properties took over The Edison, a mostly empty 30-floor building in the downtown core, it decided to follow businesses in Silicon Valley and make the tower dog friendly.
     
    At Entuitive, a consulting engineering practice on the 16th floor, 14-year-old Jazzy, a Shih Tzu/toy poodle spends most of her day sleeping in a small dog bed next to her owner Nicole Wilson's desk.
     
    "My dog actually has separation anxiety so between my mom and myself we have to co-ordinate who's going to take her because she really can't stay home by herself. She actually makes herself super sick when she's by herself," Wilson said.
     
    "Lots of people who are maybe having a rough day, they'll come by our cubicles and give our dogs a pat and go about their day. It creates a really good aura throughout the office."
     
    David Leonard brings his rescue dog, one-year-old Riley, to the 45-person office to help socialize her.
     
    "She's got pretty high energy and it's good to mentally stimulate her here. She just walks around the office with me and that's enough to keep her satisfied," Leonard said.
     
    "She'll just hang out in the boardroom and do her thing and keep everyone company. It kind of brings a lot of people together."
     
    Scott Hutcheson, executive chairman of Aspen Properties, said the  firm is looking at putting out the doggie welcome mat at other buildings.
     
    "In Silicon Valley, the bulk of the employees are probably under 40 and probably 10 to 15 per cent of the employees bring their dogs to work. It works," Hutcheson said.
     
    "There's research done on it. You have three Cs: more creativity, more compassion and more connectivity in a pet-friendly environment."
     
    There are strict rules in the building, which is just over half full, he said. Badly behaved dogs aren't allowed and there are separate elevators for people with pets. An outdoor park and pet spa is being developed on the third floor.
     
    Hutcheson said companies need to address whether having dogs is compatible with their workforce.
     
    "Do you have people who are violently allergic to an animal? If that's the case then ... you probably choose that person's health over the dog," he said.
     
    "If you decide that this floor has dogs on it, you might move an employee to another floor or another area."
     
    With a vacancy rate hovering around 27 per cent, other Calgary real estate firms are opening their doors to pets.
     
    Tenants will be permitted to bring their dogs to work at the 12-storey, Canadian Centre run by Artis Real Estate Investment Trust.
     
    "Calgary is going through some challenges economically so there's a lot of vacancies in buildings ... We started to look around as to what people wanted in the marketplace," said Artis leasing vice-president Bruce Nimmo.
     
    "There are a lot of people who would like to bring their dogs to work who just can't today."
     
    While some might welcome a furry colleague, a Calgary allergist says a dog-friendly workplace could cause problems for people with asthma.
     
    Dr. Joel Doctor said improved air filtration and dog-free zones won't solve the problem because Calgary does not have the same climate as Silicon Valley.
     
    "If a building is very open to the outside, it's less of a problem," Doctor said.
     
    "If you look at our buildings in downtown Calgary, where for six or eight months of the year the buildings are tight, tight, tight and there's a certain amount of air recirculation, it could potentially be more of a problem."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Three Main Factors Push Up Insurance Rates For B.C. Drivers: ICBC

    Three Main Factors Push Up Insurance Rates For B.C. Drivers: ICBC
    More crashes, more damage and injury claims, and higher costs associated with those claims mean higher rates are needed to cover expenses.

    Three Main Factors Push Up Insurance Rates For B.C. Drivers: ICBC

    Questions Surround Michael Page-Vincelli's Death After Altercation Inside Burnaby Starbucks

    Questions Surround Michael Page-Vincelli's Death After Altercation Inside Burnaby Starbucks
    BURNABY, B.C. — Outside a busy Starbucks in Metro Vancouver, a black-and-white photograph of a young man in a suit and tie sits nestled among flowers, handwritten cards and a bright red ribbon that reads, "Michael."

    Questions Surround Michael Page-Vincelli's Death After Altercation Inside Burnaby Starbucks

    Teen Lands Job After Toronto Police Officer Buys Him Formal Clothes He Allegedly Tried To Steal

    Teen Lands Job After Toronto Police Officer Buys Him Formal Clothes He Allegedly Tried To Steal
    Toronto police say that after an officer bought an alleged shoplifter the clothes he was trying to steal for a job interview, the teenager got the job.

    Teen Lands Job After Toronto Police Officer Buys Him Formal Clothes He Allegedly Tried To Steal

    Young Boy Allegedly Abducted By Mother Three Years Ago Back In Canada

    Young Boy Allegedly Abducted By Mother Three Years Ago Back In Canada
    LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Police in southern Alberta say a young boy allegedly abducted by his mother and taken out of the country three years ago is back in Canada.

    Young Boy Allegedly Abducted By Mother Three Years Ago Back In Canada

    Some Asylum-Seekers Struggling To Find Housing After Leaving Shelters

    Some Asylum-Seekers Struggling To Find Housing After Leaving Shelters
    MONTREAL — Some of the asylum-seekers who have recently crossed the Canada-U.S. border say they're struggling to find a place to live once they leave government-run temporary shelters.

    Some Asylum-Seekers Struggling To Find Housing After Leaving Shelters

    Canadian Pastor Freed From North Korean Prison Speaks To Congregation

    Canadian Pastor Freed From North Korean Prison Speaks To Congregation
    MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Despite a grim account of his imprisonment, the mood was joyful as a Canadian pastor freed from a North Korean prison addressed the congregation at a Toronto-area church Sunday.

    Canadian Pastor Freed From North Korean Prison Speaks To Congregation