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Melcor Development is planning on bringing the much-touted 'live/work/play' mantra to life with their Greenwich community in northwest Calgary. The established builder has announced that pre-sales for the 16-hectare development near Highway 1 on the way to Banff will begin in March. Infrastructure construction has already started on the site across from Canada Olympic Park.
The development's strategic location between the recreational and natural assets of the Rockies and the urban amenities of the city is one of its main selling points. Melcor, taking note of cookie-cutter developments that offer no substantial retail component, aims to do just the opposite. Their mixed-use community will be integrated with its surroundings yet serve as a self-sustaining neighbourhood, with a range of residential, retail, and commercial activities within walking distance from the front doors of residents. Capturing the 21st century urban planning ethos, which promotes the creation of healthy neighbourhoods that don't depend solely on vehicular connectivity, is what Melcor is intending to do here.
Preliminary plans for the site outline a network of bike and walking pathways intersecting with parks, plazas, and community gardens. At full build-out, the development could contain upwards of 900 multi-family units housed within four- to six-storey condominium buildings, townhomes, and rental buildings. Cove Properties and Landmark Homes are the first two homebuilders in the development, focusing on condominiums and townhomes respectively. The northern edge of Calgary has seen the strongest residential growth in recent years, a trend that is predicted to continue through 2017.
Approximately 100,000 square feet of commercial space, which will likely include a grocery store, will join 200,000 square feet of office space in diversifying the project's land uses. No tenants have yet been confirmed, but Melcor has stated they've received "immense interest" from business owners who see the development as an opportunity to serve an untapped area of the city. "The northwest has historically been one of the highest-earning quadrants in the city, yet when we look for specialized grocery, boutique retail, or higher end restaurants, it is a very underserved quadrant," said Graeme Melton, Melcor's Vice-President of Community Development for Calgary, in a piece for the Calgary Real Estate Board.
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