One6 | ?m | 5s | Strategic Group | NORR

General rating of the project

  • Great

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Good

    Votes: 6 37.5%
  • So So

    Votes: 6 37.5%
  • Not Very Good

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Terrible

    Votes: 3 18.8%

  • Total voters
    16
Interesting. Such a stark contrast to urbantoronto. Forumers here are a lot more forgiving when it comes to design.

It's all relative. I think at this stage we're all just still happy to see projects of any kind on the go. Calgary is still hurting. Unemployment is still above 9%. Personally, I don't have the energy to hate on a project that actually represents an investment in the city no matter how middling the design. Maybe in a few years we'll all come back to this project with a more critical eye and say, "What were we thinking?" But for now, as dismal as it sounds this thing is a reason for optimism.
 
Interesting. Such a stark contrast to urbantoronto. Forumers here are a lot more forgiving when it comes to design.
Cities like Toronto and Vancouver have much higher real estate prices, so developers can afford to spend a bit more. Also the maturity of Calgary, and the amount of undeveloped empty lots is part of it. People here are happy seeing an empty lot get developed.
 
I can't speak for everyone here in Calgary but I like to see Calgary pick its battles. Push for a good design in places like Kensington, Mission, Inglewood, etc. and not worry too much about parcels like this. The fact that it's adding retail to the street, and 100 odd rental units to an area that can't be used for much else is fine by me.
 
I can't speak for everyone here in Calgary but I like to see Calgary pick its battles. Push for a good design in places like Kensington, Mission, Inglewood, etc. and not worry too much about parcels like this. The fact that it's adding retail to the street, and 100 odd rental units to an area that can't be used for much else is fine by me.

Yeah going back to the fact that this is a development on what was a pretty gross piece of largely empty land in the middle of the city, it's a major improvement.
 
I can't speak for everyone here in Calgary but I like to see Calgary pick its battles. Push for a good design in places like Kensington, Mission, Inglewood, etc. and not worry too much about parcels like this. The fact that it's adding retail to the street, and 100 odd rental units to an area that can't be used for much else is fine by me.
The perfect example of this is Strategic's development on Centre and 20th. The city could have pushed for better design on that one, being on a retail artery with good potential.
 
The perfect example of this is Strategic's development on Centre and 20th. The city could have pushed for better design on that one, being on a retail artery with good potential.
Agreed, although the city did actually push back on the original design (for 20th ave), which was complete garbage.

This is almost exactly what was originally proposed for Centre Street and 20th ave.

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Cities like Toronto and Vancouver have much higher real estate prices, so developers can afford to spend a bit more. Also the maturity of Calgary, and the amount of undeveloped empty lots is part of it. People here are happy seeing an empty lot get developed.


Maturity makes sense. Urbantoronto has been around 17 years unlike Skyrise Calgary. It probably wasn't always as critical of development and demanding of good design. I just forgot.
 
Agreed, although the city did actually push back on the original design (for 20th ave), which was complete garbage.

This is almost exactly what was originally proposed for Centre Street and 20th ave.

View attachment 108579
So much worse than what was actually built. The new condo at Centre St/13th Ave with beige, pink and brown siding is way worse than even this proposal in my opinion.
 
We dodged a bullet that time. Did they city make them change it?
I'm not sure, but I went to to look at the DP, and the file manager asked me my opinion of it....and I told him I thought it was awful, and that at the very least it would be a blown opportunity not to at least have retail at the base.
 
Interesting. Such a stark contrast to urbantoronto. Forumers here are a lot more forgiving when it comes to design.

Or a lot more realistic?
 
Or a lot more realistic?

IMHO, urbantoronto is more open to give a deserving project a lower grade. It's a product of many years of debates. Calgary is still new to this and any development is also seen as an economic boost. I think people are forgetting these projects will define their neighbourhoods for a generation or two long after this recession has passed. It's important these projects add interest to the community through good urban form and an attractive, engaging design.
 
IMHO, urbantoronto is more open to give a deserving project a lower grade. It's a product of many years of debates. Calgary is still new to this and any development is also seen as an economic boost. I think people are forgetting these projects will define their neighbourhoods for a generation or two long after this recession has passed. It's important these projects add interest to the community through good urban form and an attractive, engaging design.

o_O
 
I'm going to play devil’s advocate here. Calgary is not as far along as Toronto when it comes to urbanity and design, but this project is the wrong example to make that argument.
Okay, the design isn’t wonderful, but my question is, how is this development going to affect the neighborhood for generations to come? It’s on a parcel of land that has virtually no effect on the surrounding area. It was an empty parking lot that is completely cutoff from everything around it.
Other areas of the city it would be different but in this particular case I'm okay with what's going in.
The Torode project for Inglewood on the other hand...
IMHO, urbantoronto is more open to give a deserving project a lower grade. It's a product of many years of debates. Calgary is still new to this and any development is also seen as an economic boost. I think people are forgetting these projects will define their neighbourhoods for a generation or two long after this recession has passed. It's important these projects add interest to the community through good urban form and an attractive, engaging design.
 
This project's polling peaked my interest to check out the rest. My replies have been on the whole lot. ("projects" instead of "project") I don't think it's a realistic representation that 80 to 90% of the poll results are either good or very good. It doesn't praise the quality of a Telus Sky. It doesn't really inspire developers lurking on the site to make improve on follow up developments.

I've driven past this project. I understand it's location and limitations. It's still ugly as sin.
 

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