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The Calgary Co-op at the corner of Dalhousie Drive and Shaganappi Trail across from Northland Village has been targeted for intensification. The sprawling northwest Calgary store and its accompanying surface parking lot is one of multiple big-box locations under redevelopment around the country, and just steps away, as city planners focus on maximizing the potential of land in mature neighbourhoods.
Described as an "urban village" by project proponents Quarry Bay Investments and Sahuri + Partners Architecture, The Boulevard at Dalhousie seeks to enhance the appeal of this tired suburban corner through the injection of dynamic residential, office, and retail amenities primarily split between three buildings. The community initially expressed concern over the fate of the grocery store, as it is a popular neighbourhood amenity. But the project is taking a five- to six-year phased approach to ensure the store and the related on-site services remain open during construction, even as a more efficient replacement Co-op is built.
Plans for the first phase currently call for a new gas bar, C-store, and liquor store to be constructed at the southwest corner of the property fronting Dalton Drive and North Belle Road, with the existing car wash maintaining its location. The current gas bar and liquor store will only be removed once their replacements are operational. The second phase will involve the construction of the new Co-op — to open following the closure of the existing store — which will be attached to a 21-storey tiered residential building. From there, eight floors of residential space, with retail at grade, will hug the north edge of the site. The final phase will see the development of a four-storey office and retail building at the northwest quadrant.
At full build-out, the development is poised to contain 444 one- to three-bedroom residences — likely to be comprised of both condominiums and rentals — supported by approximately 44,000 square feet of office space and 100,000 square feet of retail. There will be 784 parking stalls, 602 of which are planned underground. With a development application expected to be submitted before the year's end, construction is eyed for a late 2017 start.
The development follows in the footsteps of other re-workings of car-centric retail plazas being conducted across Canada. Burnaby's Brentwood Town Centre is welcoming an influx of high-density residences set to provide a consistent flow of patrons to the well-used local landmark. In Toronto, the Shops at Don Mills reimagined a cavernous indoor mall as a pedestrian-friendly outdoor lifestyle centre augmented by perimeter condominiums. Comparable in scale to what is now being undertaken in Calgary, the Humbertown Redevelopment makes the experience of heading to the grocery store much easier for non-motorized consumers.
The days of the single-storey power centre, to the joy of planners and urban-minded denizens, seem to be nearing their end. Or at the very least, there's finally a palpable recognition that perhaps these warehouse-like grocery stores aren't quite appropriately scaled within a densifying and increasingly walkable city.
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