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Four years ago, Grant Spurdle’s apartment building in Varsity View was filled to capacity, with 63 tenants paying good money for a suite within easy walking distance of Broadway Avenue, the University of Saskatchewan and Saskatoon’s downtown core.

Now a combination of widespread economic weakness, private residential rentals and a glut of new apartments and condominiums has driven the family-owned building’s vacancy rate up to 12.5 per cent. And that’s not the only problem, Spurdle said.

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“This (rate) isn’t too uncommon this time of year,” said the landlord, whose family has run the Temperance Street building since 1965. “But what’s really uncommon is we’re not getting a single phone call for rentals. Nothing. The phone’s just not ringing.”

Spurdle, who figures his building has a geographic advantage over many other complexes in the city, knows that while he’s not the only landlord in Saskatoon struggling to fill empty suites, he is likely faring better than most as vacancy rates rise.