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But the downtown vacancy rate was a record high 25 per cent in 2016 and is projected to rise to 27 per cent later this year when two new offices (totalling nearly two million square feet) open, according to projections from the Conference Board of Canada.

The organization’s research shows Calgary is unlikely to see any new investment in downtown office real estate for at least 12 years, and it will take about a decade for the existing space to be absorbed.

“The old phrase that this too shall pass is just not going to be the case in the future,” said city manager Jeff Fielding, noting the $10-million infusion was a prudent place to start.

But Ward 13 Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart, the lone council member to vote against the fund, said it’s not the municipal government’s job to manage the economy.

“If we go down this slippery slope of the expectation being there that this is what government should be doing, and more handouts, and so on and so forth, that’s where it really concerns me a lot,” she said.

A recommendation to set aside $2 million for the Calgary Arts Development Authority to invest immediately in 10 arts organizations was delayed until July in a 10-5 vote.

Michael Brown, president and CEO of the Calgary Municipal Land Corp., told council that without help, half of those arts organizations could soon be out of business.