Eau Claire Market Redevelopment

Developer: Harvard Developments
  
Address: Eau Claire Market, Calgary
Category: Residential (Condo, Hotel, Market-Rate Rental, Townhouse), Commercial (Office, Retail), Public Space / Park
Status: Pre-ConstructionCompletion: TBD
Height: 443 ft / 135.02 mStoreys: 35 storeys
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Eau Claire Market Redevelopment | 135.02m | 35s | Harvard Developments

Rating of the development

  • 1 Really Good

    Votes: 12 23.5%

  • 2 Not Bad

    Votes: 11 21.6%

  • 3 So So

    Votes: 16 31.4%

  • 4 Not Good

    Votes: 9 17.6%

  • 5 Terrible

    Votes: 3 5.9%
  • Total voters
    51
I feel like this one started out having the potential to be a showstopper, now as time goes on and the renderings get refined we are already seeing the value-engineering taking over. IF this thing actually gets going I fear it could look even worse than these latest renderings.
 
darwink said:
I like the urban design of it, but the buildings are nothing special.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Not my favourite design, however it does boldly address a few of downtown's most long term problems. First, the ground level is good and the inclusion of a theatre is a major draw that every city centre should have. Second, the removal of Eau Claire pseudo-suburban mall from the core and breaking the mega-block it is on is a huge win. Third - and most importantly - these two towers offer a huge boost in residential density, about as close to the "gravity centre" of downtown as possible. Several hundred units at least. It won't be affordable of course, but if it's built we can take a big dent out of these issues.

My guess is we will be waiting a while for this one. Downtown Calgary doesn't lack shiny modern towers (like these that are proposed), it lacks residents. Any way we get residents while maintaining a sustainable vibrant public realm focused on pedestrians is a win for us.
 
The ground level of the podium meets the street with retail but, it's also an incredibly boring design. No identity. No fine grained urbanity. The rendering could be for a project anywhere in Canada if we didn't know better.
 
Anyone else go to the Information Session for this development today in Eau Claire Mall? There were representatives from the City, the Developer and Architect. It gave some additional insight into the overall "vision" of Eau Claire. It also provided the opportunity to speak with those closely involved.

It appears that this developer has gotten away with murder. They do not own Barclay Parade as it is a public road. However it appears that instead of having to develop within the the constraints of public roads, the road its being moved around their development. Instead of a nice curved road, it is going to be a boring city block system. It is also true that they are demolishing the Barley Mill and Joeys which is very disappointing as these buildings have character and somewhat significance and are quite busy every night and work well together with their low density. The historic Bow River Lumber Co. building is being "moved by others" out of the way of the development. As most people know, the smoke stack is also being moved out of the way to maximize the developers return.

Both the architect and City couldn't answer any questions on why consideration wasn't put in to keep some of the character buildings within the entire vision or at least move them into a different area of Eau Claire so the entire area won't look new, sterile and cold. They also appeared to be very unsure if the entire development will be a success given the retail vacancy in the surrounding blocks. The architect did say that the current design is very high level. The representative did agree that it appears to most that the City are bending backwards for the developer instead of what should be the other way around. We did get to fill out a survey at the end which is expected to be used for City toilet paper in the coming days. Any issues with the development can also be appealed for a fee of $50!
 
Hi Group,
We can Agree to Disagree but I Come away with the Views that there will B a Lot more changes with the D P as this is a 5 Bldg Project Over a Number of Years. As Long as they have Their D P they are Free to Make Changes as They See Fit. This Project will B Interesting,
Tnx,
Operater.
 
You can't make any changes to a DP without applying for it.

Land use would allow a little leeway here. There's shadowing to consider and this developer isn't going to build less than they are allowed.
 
I don't think this first phase will see many changes from what we have seen. Council granted 1st reading way back in December 2015, and only gave then 2nd and 3rd this week, upon seeing the development permit for these first 2 towers. So, the first 2 will be as shown. Who knows though, as things drag on, maybe they (Developer) will come back asking for changes due to poor economics of the plan, etc.. and Council could bend/cave/adjust (however you want to describe it).
 
I'm very pessimistic about this development because I think it's been all about maximizing revenue from the beginning. On the other hand, there are a few things that it is doing right. Yes Barclay Parade is pleasant as it bends around the Barley Mill, but it is awkwardly placed, since it creates a barrier between the public plaza to the west and the market to the east. The new public plaza will likely be more sterile than Barclay Parade, but it looks like it will have a better layout for hosting festivals like the Taste of Calgary.

And, as others have said, it will reconnect Riverfront Ave to 3 St, breaking up a mega-block, and adding residents and amenities to the downtown core.
 
Shiny and new is all great and all but at the expense of older, cool buildings such as the Barley Mill. I love seeing designs where the old is integrated with the new. It's too bad the developers are not planning to do this in regards to the Barley Mill building, in some manner.
 
I don't give much of a damn about the heritage value of that smoke stack, but the Barley Mill seems like more of an issue to me.
 
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