UPTEN | 121.91m | 37s | Strategic Group

[Disraeli]

I like the statue but it looks a-lot more like a person packing their bags to move to Williamsburg than it does Van Gogh

 

[Beltline_B]

 

[Mountain Man]

Walked by this about an hour ago, and I think the podium here is one of my favourite so far in Calgary, very open and welcoming to people on the sidewalk.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

^^^ absolutely. The stairs piss me off a little. Buuut, flooding plus being a 10+ year old site, hard to rectify.

Here’s the Van Gogh...

 

[Mountain Man]

Those stairs kept the floor of the building next door just above water in 2013, so the flood plain thing is legit. Apparently the elevator in that building was in the parkade when the flood hit, and it took them a year to get fixed lol.

 

[Beltline_B]

 

[GoVertical]

I really like the pop of color they've added to the streetscape:

 

[1875]

great picture! talk about cleaning up that corner. of course shame about one way but that horse has been beaten to death.

 

[The Familia]

Fantastic! Clean, simple, does all the right things. Need more of these! Hey Cidex, take note.

 

[ActiveTruth]

I really like the pop of color they've added to the streetscape:View attachment 279405View attachment 279406View attachment 279407

Fantastic!

 

[Nimbus]

Wow, I had no idea the ground level treatment was going to be like that.

 

[outoftheice]

I don't think the 1-way battle will ever be won on the McLeod Trail couplette but I do think it's time for the City of Calgary to reconsider putting a cycle track on 1 St SE. This was part of the original cycle track network proposal and got pulled by politicians. Since them though more condo towers have been built along this stretch and ground retail is finally starting to arrive. A cycle track would provide quick access to downtown for residents of these towers (who are now essentially living on a traffic island), open up access to these businesses for Beltline and East Village residents and provide some traffic calming. At the very least it should be tried out as an 'adaptive closure' next summer.

 

[JonnyCanuck]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/canada-mortgage-housing-corporation-renting-calgary-upten-1.5773398

CMHC is forecasting vacancy rates to rise. The building is at 25% occupancy with a projected 95% by next summer ... right around the time that Curtis Block will be open. I hope Strategic Group can manage to stay in business until then given their financial predicament.
I don't know what is drawing the target renter to these buildings at the present. The jobs are leaving the CBD at a rapid rate. Those that still have a job and were previously working downtown, may be working from home now. Immigration to Calgary is way down. A lot of inner city attractions/amenities are closed because of the pandemic. What is the attraction to living central now?

 

[UrbanWarrior]

Being within walking distance of any and all manner of amenities, including the best bars and restaurants in the entire prairie region. Immigration may be down/offline but that wasn't the only key driver of downtown growth. People are always having kids, and kids will always be growing up, leaving home, and some of them - a lot more than ever before - are choosing downtown, because it's by far the most interesting place to live in the city.

A rise in vacancy rates is fine. It's wild that it took this long, and a rise doesn't mean that construction will be stopped.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Color me impressed. That corner looks great. The general look and feel as well as the lighting,and a statue that isn't a horse. It's all great.