Eau Claire Market Redevelopment | 135.02m | 35s | Harvard Developments

Rating of the development

  • 1 Really Good

    Votes: 12 25.0%

  • 2 Not Bad

    Votes: 10 20.8%

  • 3 So So

    Votes: 15 31.3%

  • 4 Not Good

    Votes: 9 18.8%

  • 5 Terrible

    Votes: 2 4.2%
  • Total voters
    48
Surrealplaces

Surrealplaces

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Five tower development for Calgary's Eau Claire Market

Tower 1, at 35 storeys and ~135 meters will be office.
Tower 2, at 25 storeys and ~100 meters will be mixed use (hotel/residential)
Tower 3, at 20 storeys and ~80 meters will be residential.
Tower 4, at 15 storeys and ~50 meters will be residential.
Tower 5, at 13 storeys and ~45 meters will be residential.

The Land Use Amendment has been submitted, with the DP currently being worked on as well. The project is expected to start in early 2015, and will take 7 - 10 years to complete all phases.


Here are some renderings...

Eau-Claire-Redevelopment-web.jpg

http://www.crebnow.com/harvard-developments-to-redevelop-eau-claire-market/
ff_eau-claire-development-pic-5.jpg

http://globalnews.ca/news/980340/gallery-major-overhaul-planned-for-eclectic-eau-claire/
1002806160-1002806162.jpg

http://news.buzzbuzzhome.com/2014/01/hottest-calgary-developments-2013.html
maxresdefault.jpg

 
That's a great article, thanks for posting. I would love to see the mall redevelopment go ahead even if only one or two of the towers go through at the same time :)
 
Good stuff - there's been pockets of growth happening even in Eau-Claire but these sites are def needed as community building projects and should spur many more to come.
 
Surrealplaces said:
I would be surprised to see anything happen for a while. It's possible the retail could go ahead, like Rio Can is doing with Arris in East Village.

Welcome to Skyrise Biospherian!
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Thank you for the warm welcome Surrealplaces!
The article above did say the project will break ground within the year. Do you think this is plausible having taken into account the economic downturn?
If it happens this year, you're saying the retail might go ahead first, right?
 
biospherian said:
Thank you for the warm welcome Surrealplaces!
The article above did say the project will break ground within the year. Do you think this is plausible having taken into account the economic downturn?
If it happens this year, you're saying the retail might go ahead first, right?
Click to expand...

One thing I've learned from articles is that it's easy for developers to predict construction starts. It's possible it could, and I would like to see it happen, but the market for high rise condos and office space is saturated. Retail on the other hand is down, but still going, and Eau Claire is under represented in retail. If it did happen it wouldn't surprise me. If the the residential or office towers went...I would be very surprised.
 
I don't believe a DP has been submitted yet, unless someone wants to correct me. IIRC they're still sorted out the land-use related issues. Given the site, variety of uses on the project, and the scale it probably won't start for awhile. As Surreal suggests perhaps they'll get some of the retail portions started but I do believe Phase I was going to be the office tower on the site.
 
That is correct, no DP has been submitted yet, just the land use. I'm not sure where they are at on it, but given the market, I'd be surprised to see them anxious to get going. I'm almost wondering if we will see a redesign by the time it comes to fruition?
 
H.E.Pennypacker said:
I don't believe a DP has been submitted yet, unless someone wants to correct me. IIRC they're still sorted out the land-use related issues. Given the site, variety of uses on the project, and the scale it probably won't start for awhile. As Surreal suggests perhaps they'll get some of the retail portions started but I do believe Phase I was going to be the office tower on the site.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, if the office portion has primacy, that probably bodes poorly for a forthcoming start given the current vacancy rates downtown. This Herald Article has the vacancy rate siting at 20.2% as of last week.


Surrealplaces said:
That is correct, no DP has been submitted yet, just the land use. I'm not sure where they are at on it, but given the market, I'd be surprised to see them anxious to get going. I'm almost wondering if we will see a redesign by the time it comes to fruition?
Click to expand...

I like the project as it is. It wouldn't say it hits my top ten, but I think it does a way more than adequate job. So in that light I hope they stick with the current plans rather than revisit them, because I fear that they'd come back with something that is ultimately worse. Maybe you're right though. The longer that a project remains undeveloped the higher the likelihood of a change to the plans.
 
Oddball said:
Hmmm, if the office portion has primacy, that probably bodes poorly for a forthcoming start given the current vacancy rates downtown. This Herald Article has the vacancy rate siting at 20.2% as of last week.
Click to expand...

Yup, office space is definitely on the backburner. I posted the link to the article in real estate section as there are some interesting points from the article.
 
It's possible Harvard proceeds with the hotel portion as phase 1 given the current market conditions. Cheap labour and hotel demand are still in effect despite the economy - could be a good time to get those portions started, and then phase in the retail components while leaving the office tower until last?
 
I don't think there's enough to animate the public space in this design. It's just an open rectangular dead zone surrounded by glass walls. In essence it looks like the same type of corporate plazas that plague the rest of downtown Calgary and other central business districts.

I also don't see any evidence of the existing heritage buildings. Currently those buildings and the children's play area are the only redeeming feature of Eau Claire.

In my view, this design needs:
- to break up the public space into smaller, more intimate partitions
- to bring retail out to the front of the building rather than hiding it within the lobby of the building
- create more textures at street level by using brick, wood, and generally breaking up the facade of the buildings. The blanket of steel and glass is what makes most of downtown Calgary's streetscape so uninviting to pedestrians.
 
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