The height and stories have been updated to reflect the renderings, with an estimate of the height. Will be updated again once there is a DP. Does anyone know who the new developer is?
Brentwood Commons | 85m | 24s | Casola Koppe
- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
gsunnyg
Senior Member
I completely forgot that the height was revised down. I'd love to start seeing 30+ storey towers around Transit stations as long as they make sense and aren't finished/designed poorly, such as seen with the Hub by Banff Trail station. It would be great to see TOD high-rise nodes similar to those in Metro Vancouver appear around Calgary. This would give Calgary a more prominent big-city vibe. Maybe the west side of Brentwood station will allow for taller highrises in the future!
Albertasaurus
Active Member
While some 30+ storey towers would be cool, Vancouver's highrise TOD nodes are driven by a perfect storm of crazy housing prices, severe zoning restrictions that have restricted development and building heights in their actual downtown, and geographic constraints. The fact that Calgary and Denver look so much alike, and have many similarities in built forms and heights, are probably due in part to the many geographic attributes they share. Similarly, Seattle seems to be building crazy dense TOD in Bellevue perhaps due to having the same constraints that are driving heights up in the Vancouver area. In both cases it's ironic that the Canadian cities are smaller than their American cousins and yet exude more of that "big city" vibe IMO.
I think we'll still see some 30+ towers in the suburban TODs, but they'll be the exception rather than the rule. At this point I'd be happy to get quality TOD happening at all, even if it's mostly 6 storey wood frame (which can look good as per University District). More height will come in time.
I think we'll still see some 30+ towers in the suburban TODs, but they'll be the exception rather than the rule. At this point I'd be happy to get quality TOD happening at all, even if it's mostly 6 storey wood frame (which can look good as per University District). More height will come in time.
gsunnyg
Senior Member
I also think we've had many opportunities taken away from us due to NIMBYism requiring heights to be lowered. Also, Denver is another sprawling North American city. Canadian cities outside of Toronto and Vancouver are starting to push for more efficient land use than our American counterparts. Whatever the case, I'm sure we'll get 1-2 proposals in the next 5 years. One of the few things that makes me optimistic about this is that if the new Conservative leader sticks with his plans for pushing for greater density zoning around Transit stations and punishing municipalities that don't build enough homes, then City Hall will have a greater incentive and justification to ignore height concerns, especially next to LRT stations.
trtcttc
Active Member
Toronto and Vancouver are a bit different than those mid-size US cities because the city is essentially hemmed in. Toronto because of the Greenbelt and Vancouver just a lack of land. Calgary doesn't really have this problem the city will expand in size in the NW, NE, and SE, which takes away some of the demand for higher density.
Currently if you build a family sized high rise condo in the suburbs, the SFH home is probably only slightly more expensive, and if you build 1/2 beds, those people usually don't want to live in the suburbs. It probably makes sense around older mall/parking sites like Brentwood and North Hill (Lions Park) which have a larger demand for apartments due to the schools nearby. Being retail sites, it's usually not too close to residential areas, lessening the community pushback.
kotk2800
New Member
kotk2800
New Member
kotk2800
New Member
kotk2800
New Member
Habanero
Active Member
Are there any renderings with a view from the east side? I’d like to see if the laneway through University City carries through into this development.
kotk2800
New Member
kotk2800
New Member
From this rendering it looks like it does connect, at least for pedestrians. A huge improvement over the last design where it blocked by a huge wall from the back of the development.
Last edited:
I've updated the project page to the number of floors in the rendering and an estimated height. Once we see a DP, I'll change accordingly. Same for the architect, it was mentioned that it was the same architect who did Mission Landing, which I believe was Casola Koppe. Not sure who the developer is, but hopefully it's not Quarry Bay.
Roaring Flames
Senior Member
I don't see the reasoning behind the massive above ground parkade when it's directly adjacent to the station. I also don't like the massing of the podium, the glass at the top is 100% going to be spandrel, and I'm not sure what those translucent parts are made of but they likely won't be in the final design either. I wouldn't hold my breath on the final design looking anywhere as good as these renders. This looks like a bad mashup of West Village Towers and The Hat Elbow River to me.