Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

[darwink]

DMap

DMap

dmap.calgary.ca

Its a land use redesignation.
I could see the condo building getting redeveloped, its pretty rough and only occupies <50% of the lot. Strange that both lots are included in the application, maybe someone with some more knowledge on this could chime in

Building with the ship, last change Jan, 2023, sold in November 2020 for $3.7 million of consideration. Apartment next door, sold $3.7 million, March 2025.

Bang on the property assessments.

With FAR at 3.0 in the Beltline ARP, treating the sites as one if they keep the Ship side, lets a fairly large development go on the over side, with the entire site applying for 4.5 FAR.

The entire site is

Existing buildings are 660 m2 * 4 and 293 m2 * 3. So 10268 square metres a 6 storeys, if you remove the ship, lets you build 1271 m2 of floor plate.

You wouldn't 'max out' the FAR without using part of the parking from the Ship building. So something has to happen with the building the ship is in, if the zoning was calculated for a specific project.

 

[1875]

brutal, go fix somewhere else!

 

[thecivilengineer]

Holborn Group proposes $2.8B 'transformational' project for downtown Vancouver

A hotel, condos, rental housing, social housing and an Indigenous art gallery will span several properties, including in the Downtown Eastside.

www.biv.com

NOT RELATED TO CALGARY BUT...300m

 

[outoftheice]

Stephen Ave streetscape improvements kick off in July. Just like the businesses in this article, I too have mixed feelings about the decision to move the patios into the middle of the street.

What's next for Stephen Avenue, downtown Calgary's historic main street?

Changes are in the works for downtown Calgary's original main street, as the city embarks on a long-term beautification of Stephen Avenue.

calgaryherald.com

 

[konradiical]

I find that Stephen Ave is usually pretty dead lol in the evenings. 17th ave is way more lively

 

[badc0ffee]

Stephen Ave can be lively if the weather is nice.. On Friday/Saturday evenings, people fill the patios from about Centre St to 3 St SW.

I'm not sure how late into the night that goes, though.

 

[outoftheice]

The vibrancy used to go pretty late into the night on Friday and Saturdays when the street was completely closed to cars. When Terry Wong became Councillor he pushed to have it reopen to vehicles after 6pm again and it's killed off a lot of that vibrancy again because instead of people hanging out on the street, you just get a bunch of taxis slow cruising for fares that push people up to the edges of the street. It changed the vibe completely.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

The business owner that mentions the fact that street design isn't the issue it is the open drug use, he's not wrong. Honestly though, no design can fix that and I'm normally on team "there's a design solution".

On a whole other note... And having just visited Europe. It is odd to say but it is interesting to me that we don't have a flagship downtown McDonald's lol. Sometimes I wouldn't mind a McDouble like a Mac for lunch but I don't go because of the state of both the Stephen Ave and Crack Mac's McDonald's. I guess that has a bit to do with the open drug use mentioned by the business owner but it is really more to do with how both locations are undesirable to spend more than a minute in. Goes back to the whole modernization of McDonald's, such a shame.

 

[Surrealplaces]

The business owner that mentions the fact that street design isn't the issue it is the open drug use, he's not wrong. Honestly though, no design can fix that and I'm normally on team "there's a design solution".

On a whole other note... And having just visited Europe. It is odd to say but it is interesting to me that we don't have a flagship downtown McDonald's lol. Sometimes I wouldn't mind a McDouble like a Mac for lunch but I don't go because of the state of both the Stephen Ave and Crack Mac's McDonald's. I guess that has a bit to do with the open drug use mentioned by the business owner but it is really more to do with how both locations are undesirable to spend more than a minute in. Goes back to the whole modernization of McDonald's, such a shame.

My guess is that we don't have a flagship McDonald's due to there being a lot of them scattered around the city. In other parts of the world it's common to see MD's in the busier central areas, but not as many in the outer parts of the city.

 

[Mountain Man]

Man, I'll chain myself to the patio if they threaten to close the Ship! Hope they just redevelop around it!

 

[cameronhowe]

Man, I'll chain myself to the patio if they threaten to close the Ship! Hope they just redevelop around it!

100% how I feel too.

 

[DiscoStu]

The business owner that mentions the fact that street design isn't the issue it is the open drug use, he's not wrong. Honestly though, no design can fix that and I'm normally on team "there's a design solution".

Yeah the reality is that almost all the "vibrancy" issues in the inner city stem for the drug/homeless problem, and that can't be solved via nicer urban design. No matter how many nice platters, or redesign sidewalks, or pickle ball courts you put in...most people don't want to hang around zombies and skids. There's no quick solution for that by any means (and requires action from many sides), but fix that and I bet that a lot of places suddenly will become a lot more vibrant. There's a reason why University District is thriving, while a place like EV isn't.

 

[badc0ffee]

I noticed a dynamic at the 39th Ave McDonald's where the families and seniors used one half of the seating, and the street people took the other half.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Yeah the reality is that almost all the "vibrancy" issues in the inner city stem for the drug/homeless problem, and that can't be solved via nicer urban design. No matter how many nice platters, or redesign sidewalks, or pickle ball courts you put in...most people don't want to hang around zombies and skids. There's no quick solution for that by any means (and requires action from many sides), but fix that and I bet that a lot of places suddenly will become a lot more vibrant. There's a reason why University District is thriving, while a place like EV isn't.

Unfortunate but true. The homeless/drug issue really needs to be dealt with. Not just here, but for most NA cities.

 

[adamyyc]

Stephen Ave streetscape improvements kick off in July. Just like the businesses in this article, I too have mixed feelings about the decision to move the patios into the middle of the street.

What's next for Stephen Avenue, downtown Calgary's historic main street?

Changes are in the works for downtown Calgary's original main street, as the city embarks on a long-term beautification of Stephen Avenue.

calgaryherald.com

This is pretty common in Europe, where they have created pedestrian streets/plazas, and the al fresco dining areas are in the middle of the street/plaza, rather than being abutted right against the building. It will definitely be something that restaurants and servers will have to get used to.

The main benefit I see is that it should improve traffic/visibility for adjacent retail stores, as it will allow better pedestrian flow, closer to the store fronts. Right now, Stephen Ave is a bit of a mine field of permanent/semi-permanent patios along the edges. To me, this is problematic, because pedestrians have to navigate around the fencing/planters that restaurants have installed, which is a particular waste of space during the winter months, when these patios are not in use. I also think this could provide some flexibility for smaller restaurants to expand their outdoor seating area, as they are likely currently limited to the width of their restaurant frontage.

It's also my impression that restaurants will still be able to have patios in the "edge zone", immediately abutting the building, but I'm guessing that it will have to be more "cafe style" furniture, without a defined fencing/planter boundary.