MichaelS
Senior Member
And even though it is part of a car centric shopping centre, Aspen Landing actually has a decent internal streetscape.
Bow33 | 22m | 6s | Truman | NORR
- Thread starter MichaelS
- Start date
Do the businesses on the east side of 37 St near 17th count? For example, Shimizu Kitchen (I recommend the ramen!). That's 3 buildings and 8 retail bays at the sidewalk right there, although there is parking in the back and a driveway leading to the alley.
And then there are 5 more on the west side of 37th in a new-ish building near 19th Ave.
And then there are 5 more on the west side of 37th in a new-ish building near 19th Ave.
CBBarnett
Senior Member
And even though it is part of a car centric shopping centre, Aspen Landing actually has a decent internal streetscape.
Yes all good points, I was mostly being cheeky with my statement - I would welcome someone doing the actual math on how much pedestrian-oriented retail is actually out there!
My main point remains valid I think - this building materially changes the supply and condition of pedestrian-oriented development in an area overwhelmingly lacking it. It's good to see, particularly on a promising corridor with top-level transit access.
haltcatchfire
Senior Member
If you build it they will come! ... and go quickly so don't bother building anything else.
Really disappointing., We've had 20 years of boomtimes for multi-family building, and a perfectly good TOD site sits empty. For the love of god City of Calgary, do not sell the entire parcel to one developer.
We've seen the one parcel one developer for Westbrook and Eau Claire, both have sat idle. On the other hand we've seen West Campus, East Village and University district, divide up the land and sell as individual parcels.
I know Truman ahs a lot on their plate, but if the city for some reason decides to sell that Westbrook parcel to one developer, I hope it's Truman.
Mountain Man
Senior Member
Drove past this strip yesterday, impressed how 33 has turned out! Now we just need the entire area west of this to get going!! I'd even be happy if they even did a Crown Park type development just to get rid of that dirt field! Though mid - high rise would obviously be preferred...
pdubs015
New Member
The city is in no rush on this, they don’t need to settle for townhouses on that site. I think they should wait until they find high rise developers. If it takes a few years, then so be it.
They have the ability to develop several train station areas for intensive TOD. I’d rather they wait until the time is right, and build them up properly.
CalgaryTiger
Senior Member
There is lots of this coming. I know Franklin Station is pretty well a go. And they're looking at other stations. So Westbrook would just be another one to add to that list. It is interesting over this time they were never tempted to turn it into park and act as a park and ride for people looking to avoid paying for parking downtown. Thank goodness for that and we can probably credit the fact it was sold to that never happening.
Mountain Man
Senior Member
It's been almost 15 years, something needs to happen.
DiscoStu
Active Member
Fixed.
ZoomZoom42
New Member
As far as I know, nothing is in the plans here but they are looking at a different TOD site.
Calgcouver
Active Member
How long are you willing to wait? The reason Truman is building wood-frame across the street is because the construction costs and the revenue psf make sense. Concrete towers are more expensive and need to be sold for more $psf.
Consider what is immediately surrounding the Westbrook site. Is a Dollarama, a dumpy Wal-Mart and a huge mall parking lot as your immediate neighbour something that you can charge the same as being in the Beltline or Kensington? If you're seeing what I'm seeing (and very likely what Truman is seeing) then the achievable revenue psf you can make won't make for a profitable concrete tower project, so it simply won't be built. If the mall and the surroundings don't change, how will the value proposition of the location increase?
For Westbrook to be built it needs to be built at what is profitable and achievable as it sits today. Waiting won't necessarily make it more feasible to build towers; this is a good place for 5-over-1 developments for the entire site, with good materials and architecture and an emphasis on a well-designed urban realm and public space.
pdubs015
New Member
This is a great example for a topic that you can ask about to the mayoral or councillor candidates in this year’s municipal election. I don’t think townhouses are appropriate scale for that site, and that’s what was asked. Either high rise or mid rise towers likely fit the bill here.
Westbrook is competing with many other stations that are quite attractive as TOD sites. Franklin, Canyon Meadows, Anderson, Southland, Heritage, Chinook, Lions Park and Brentwood are all great candidates as well. I’m sure there are others too. The city can’t develop them all at once.
When the economics work for what the city thinks is an attractive purchase price per acre, I’m sure it will get done at Westbrook.
Alex_YYC
Senior Member
I agree row homes would be a waste of a good TOD location, but 6 storey wood frame would work well.
Once the area starts to get developed, I can see a concrete build or two going in.
Once the area starts to get developed, I can see a concrete build or two going in.