Douglas Place Apartments | 21m | 6s | Nuera Properties | KN

whatchyyc

whatchyyc

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O-tac said:
The empty field across 114th from the BRT and future lrt station at Douglasglen has this sign out. Does anyone know anything about this major TOD project? Sounds promising with 12 buildings, multifamily and retail. Been wondering when this prime land would get developed. Really happy to see it’s not another car dealership.
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DP updated with drawings by KN Architecture, phase 1 with 459 units in 3 buildings. Phase 2 is a shitty strip mall as expected

TOD Masterclass

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I thought the DP proposed something like a dozen buildings. This only looks like 8? That building design looks very similar to the one that's being built across Glenmore from Chinook. Also, when I first saw it I thought it was for the "TOD" by the Superstore in Westwinds (which is by the same developer as the Chinook apartment rentals). It seems like a copy paste of that with an added stripmall. Why is the retail closest to the lrt and not the residential buildings? Funny they obviously are prioritizing that over the residents' access to the station, yet it is phase 2 of the development. I'm surprised they even bothered with that walkway cutting through the middle as it terminates at the back of the condo building where there is no entrance. So stupid. The most direct route will likely be access road and then 29th st. What a dumb missed opportunity. It claims to be a TOD but doesn't imagine any of the residents actually using transit? Car travel and parking lot access are the priority.

Maybe it's just the decades I've watched that field wondering when it would be developed, but I'm kinda excited to see ANYTHING get built there sadly.

Edit: Too bad the Sobey's closed as they would have had walking distance groceries. I guess there's Crisp Apple in the old RONA / video store building, but otherwise it's Co-op in QP.
 
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I drove through University City today and it was pretty incredible to see the overall level of design and planning. It seems like the SE of the city gets worse designs than the NW. Quarry Park and Seton are the only big density areas with a few spots like this TOD in between. Seems like so many squandered opportunities. Ironically everything is built for cars because there's no lrt, but these TOD's will now be stuck with that design thinking after the train arrives.
 
MichaelS said:
It is a new design/DP.
DP2024-00045

The design you are referring to, with multiple more buildings, was DP2022-7363. Looks like the developer has changed plans.
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I saw the last posted DP a month ago. They must have changed it pretty fast, or else the sign just never changed. The height seems to at least be a bit taller than was previously listed or speculated. Maybe they condensed the townhomes into this larger 3 tower design? If that's the case I'd call that an improvement at least.
 
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what a depressingly bad design. I don't at all mind 6 storey wood frame construction, but I do wish there as a way to stop the developers from making the buildings so damn long. The length of this thing looks like it should be 4 separate buildings. I think this type of design is going to age extremely poorly.
 
crisp said:
Commie blocks, new Canadian version.
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More specifically the original khrushchevkas. In many ways they beat a large clump of single family homes, but it's not a huge improvement. For me it's not even the materials or general style, but more the block long massing, and large surface parking area.
You could take a third of the structure, add some retail at streetscape at the base, and move it to a street like 20th ave, and it would become Catalyst. A development that's not an architectural beauty, but still improves the urban fabric.
 
Surrealplaces said:
More specifically the original khrushchevkas. In many ways they beat a large clump of single family homes, but it's not a huge improvement. For me it's not even the materials or general style, but more the block long massing, and large surface parking area.
You could take a third of the structure, add some retail at streetscape at the base, and move it to a street like 20th ave, and it would become Catalyst. A development that's not an architectural beauty, but still improves the urban fabric.
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The funny part is that there is a strip mall going in next to this. Suburban multi-family development is not a serious business. See: Pretty much every development except University District. Leave it to a "woke" university to do suburban multi-family properly. I joke but honestly as these lesser developments age, they'll just become inexpensive housing so I guess that's a good thing? I mean it is next to a LRT station.
 
Red Star said:
Nothing wrong with that. People have to live somewhere. Plus...it's TOD.
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Devils advocate approach being that this parcel has been sitting vacant for like 50 years, so at least this will produce some useful tax revenue and house folks. I think it's a missed opportunity to have a 6 story wood frame and then a strip mall across when they could have just done mixed use, but some of that could just be driven by market forces.
 
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