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General Construction Updates

JoeUrban said:
And the only blocks downtown that have any life are the blocks that aren't like that


And that frontage is one of the least active parts of Stephen Avenue.
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Mountain Man said:
That frontage is one of the least active because of Bankers Hall looming over it, it's pretty much always in the shade.
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You guys are totally allowed to have personal aesthetic opinions and all, but I would hope they come along with more intellectual honesty.

"We need to design a street interface that is both active and sensitive to the heritage architecture of the area, through a well-designed podium with CRUs and an articulated street presence" is a reasonable opinion, one that I would and do wholeheartedly fight behind.

"Big building = oppressive feelings and shadow = bad" is just a non-starter baseless claim.

Might the relative 'death' of blocks in Downtown Calgary have something to do with the road width instead? Signal timing? Street furniture? Maybe the lack of businesses at-grade? I literally don't know, these are all speculations for which I have no substantiating data.

I'm just frustrated recently that we apparently struggle to advocate *for* things. Instead, pulling from vibes-based grab-bags to oppose things. I'm seeing the same rhetoric with the proposed Green Line viaduct, with Glenmore Landing, and so on. I want Calgarians to get what they want, but the powers that be won't listen if we don't actually know what we want, or give a damn about the way we communicate it.

/pedantic rant
 
shermanator said:
Checked out the new enclosed patio at the coffee shop in Elizabeth Square. Quite cozy with the heaters going.

People love to throw around the words "game changer" around here. I think the work Leonard Development Group are doing in Marda Loop is an actual game changer and they are bringing real life into the neighbourhood.

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Speaking of Leonard Development Group, they are in for DP for their next one in Marda Loop:

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Travisty said:
I dont think I can agree with you more on that statement. This is a fact.

The commentary regarding the proposal made it sound like there was a federal penitentiarywas being constructed on Stephan Ave
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I disagree with your "fact" but think what you want lol.
 
The mixed use storage facility in Seton is finally starting to build around the elevator cores.

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The final section of the ‘entertainment district’ next to the theatre has a new building going up that I can’t figure out. Was expecting steel as it was supposed to have retail. These precast cement walls look commercial. I hope it’s not a carwash. Would be a terrible addition to the theatre complex section. Not very entertaining.


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TooBizzy said:
Surely the boards on 7th show they're looking to move on it sometime soon? Interest rates are going down though so no incentive to do it quick > do it right.
Maybe we'll see them come back with a 300+, given it sounds they were ready for a 282. Hopefully with a better podium, and better usage of the 7 Ave space.
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They're just securing vacant buildings by boarding up windows and doors with plywood. It's a minuscule investment in a billion dollar development. Triovest are a private equity fund and when they aren't using the funds to build their own things they are lending to other developers. Lower rates are not in their favour though there's no prime fixed rate on a large scale project.

The long game waiting for squatters to set the block ablaze is in their favour too.
 
TooBizzy said:
Just to really drive the point home... I struggle to see how this is anymore 'oppressive' on Stephen Ave's street feel than Bankers' Hall.

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Funnily enough, this building is basically right at home, with widths that almost exactly match that of the surrounding Telus Sky, Brookfield, and other adjacent, older office towers.
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Does Calgary want to be a world-class city or not? Let's get shovels in the ground on this thing.
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Couldn't disagree more. The only definer of "world-class city" isn't just big monolithic towers. Plenty of world class cities around the globe have preserved historical districts - I think Calgary can spare one of our only surviving blocks of old buildings, in a pedestrian oriented downtown area which is already very lively and busy (the Stephen Ave portion, not commenting on the 7th Ave part). Calgary has plenty of room for large towers and dense development, but not many old surviving buildings. This portion of Stephen Avenue is special because it is pedestrian scale.

At best this project will plop a monolithic tower on that block, completely overshadowing the pedestrian realm. At worst it'll result in some facades pasted onto another boring corporate podium, or another Hotel York situation. Building this will mean the loss of something unique and irreplaceable - once it's gone, it's gone. I sincerely hope this is never built.
 
O-tac said:
...

The final section of the ‘entertainment district’ next to the theatre has a new building going up that I can’t figure out. Was expecting steel as it was supposed to have retail. These precast cement walls look commercial. I hope it’s not a carwash. Would be a terrible addition to the theatre complex section. Not very entertaining.


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Unfortunately you are correct in your fear of a carwash...
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