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INTRODUCTION
The announcement that Vancouver had won the 2010 Winter Olympics launched a celebration. Speculation also began immediately as to the benefits for the tourism and construction industries. Less discussion has focused on the other types of longer term business and economic development that hosting the Games could potentially bring. This report addresses that issue.
Other host cities experienced dramatic economic development before and especially after hosting the Games. In Atlanta and Sydney, for example, global exposure helped local companies to expand and attracted national and international companies who established facilities in the host cities’ regions.
To understand how The Olympics will impact the office market, Avison Young Commercial Real Estate examined the hosting experience of Sydney, Atlanta and Salt Lake City along with the broader economic and business development that happened before and afterward.
This report begins with a summary of our findings followed by a detailed explanation of how we arrived at these conclusions. A list of sources is on page 5.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Vancouver’s organizing committee will hire approximately 2,000 people to stage The Games. Addtionally, other Olympic related organizations will establish operations in Vancouver. These groups together will absorb* approximately 250,000 square feet by year end 2009 (the equivalent of a small downtown office tower).
Other employment in the private and public sectors directly related to hosting The Olympics will likely absorb up to an additional 420,000 square feet before The Games begin, accounting for approximately 1,900 jobs.
More significant and longer-term, hosting The Games should help attract dozens if not well over 100 new international companies to Vancouver and will allow many local businesses to grow as their technology or services are showcased internationally.
This induced impact could generate an additional demand for up to 600,000 square feet of office and flex technology space prior to 2010 as up to 3,000 new jobs are created. In the years immediately following The Games, the continued investment impact could absorb a further 750,000 to 1.5 million square feet per year (put another way, generate 3,000 to 6,000 new jobs) -- or more -- after 2010 for at least 2-3 years.
Overall, 22,000 permanent office-based jobs could emerge by 2013 as a result of Hosting the Olympics, filling approximately 4 million square feet of office space, the equivalent of ten downtown office towers or over 40 typical suburban office buildings.
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