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Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

MichaelS said:
Is it boomers that own the parking lots? Or large REITs or corporations who can afford to sit on them for years and years as they wait their turn to have a market favourable enough to meet their ROI targets?
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Calgary is a tough market. I doubt many investors buy inner city land with intention to operate it as a parking business over the long term. Predicting demand for commerical and residential real estate is virtually impossible given the boom and bust nature of the local economy, so many sites end up as unintended parking lots. That will slowly change as the inventory of underdeveloped inner city land diminishes over the next few decades.
 
I was walking past this area today, they were doing some surveying. I thought that was odd until i logged on here.
 
artvandelay said:
Looks to be here: https://goo.gl/maps/PUmqve7tMM3bQcdCA

It would be unfortunate to lose another heritage building for this.
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To be fair, the current state of the building barely resembles its historic facade. This new development would definitely liven up the block.

CU245011 (1).jpg
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MichaelS said:
Also, the land use for Sarina's next one in Marda Loop is in. NE corner of 19th Street and 33rd Ave SW:
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I was wondering when we might see some movement from Sarina on those lots. This is going to be a big building (assuming it's one building). It's over 1/2 of a block. Coco and 1600 Block are both 1/2 of a block each and they are big.

I don't mind Sarina's buildings, but I do worry that 33 Ave is going to become pretty homogenous. Some of Sarina's buildings are better than others (I like Coco and I think 1600 Block shows promise), but they are all very similar. I feel like 33 Ave needs more variety of developers. I know that there are a few of the smaller, 11 to 22 unit developments proposed on the east end of 33 Ave, and RNDSQR has plans for additional buildings next to Courtyard 33, but there needs to be more variety of 4-5 story buildings along the length of 33 Ave rather than all Sarina buildings (IMO).
 
Every time I walk past this block I think of how great it would be if it was the paint was sandblasted off and the brick restored. Change out the glass on the main floors and it would be a great heritage restoration to anchor 1st St SW. A lot of buildings along Stephen Avenue resembled this block during the 90s and look how great that area is now after land owners invested in some TLC. Same could be done here. Truman does nice projects but it would definitely be a shame to see this built here. I would much rather see Truman invest in restoring the building since they obviously own it already.
 
I wonder again why developers in this city are so enthusiastic to demolish buzzing community spots like these instead of the strip mall across the street. In this case, they would also remove the nice small retail bays. There are nine businesses in Western Block alone. This drawing shows two massive bays (or maybe a single combined one). A restaurant like D.O.P., a barber shop, and a tattoo place can't occupy this much space.
 
nickheer said:
I wonder again why developers in this city are so enthusiastic to demolish buzzing community spots like these instead of the strip mall across the street. In this case, they would also remove the nice small retail bays. There are nine businesses in Western Block alone. This drawing shows two massive bays (or maybe a single combined one). A restaurant like D.O.P., a barber shop, and a tattoo place can't occupy this much space.
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I'm not sure if the bays in the rendering are even retail. One would hope so, but yeah, even if they are retail, it's 9 smaller inexpensive bays swapped for one or two large expensive bays. These older semi run down buildings are cheap rental spaces that support businesses that need small inexpensive CRUs. It's similar to cheap housing stock that gets replaced, but more of a concern IMO. Cheap housing stock will eventually be replaced as buildings age, but in the case of retail the number of units is decreasing, and even after the building ages, it's not a like for like turnover.
 
It’s sad that I’m rooting againt number of developments because they’d be replacing something already good, when we have lots of empty lots or parking lots that could be developed
There’s the Moda designed proposal on 2nd St., the Tigerstead block, the Arlington proposal directly across from Tomkins park (where the little house based businesses are), and now this one on 10th Ave. and first Street. 😐
The upside is the proposals look to be solid so if it does happen it’s not a complete loss I suppose.
 
Alex_YYC said:
Does anyone know if the city has an overall plan for 34th?
The section looks great in front of Insignia, but quickly turns ghetto. 😕
It would be nice if the city did something with that stretch once Martell block is finished.
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It's part of the Main Streets program for the area - 33rd/34th combined. Timeline has been dragging out longer than initially forecasted but slowly limping forward towards eventual construction.
engage.calgary.ca

Main Streets - 33/34 Avenues S.W.

Designing improved Main Streets for Marda Loop.
engage.calgary.ca engage.calgary.ca
 
Alex_YYC said:
Does anyone know if the city has an overall plan for 34th?
The section looks great in front of Insignia, but quickly turns ghetto. 😕
It would be nice if the city did something with that stretch once Martell block is finished.
View attachment 415481
View attachment 415480
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If the City follows the phasing plan from the Streetscape Master Plan, improvements to 34th will likely be part of a later phase too.

The City did undertake some stakeholder engagement re: cycling infrastructure on 34th and issued their “what we heard” report, but there hasn’t been any word on selecting a preferred layout, or on design drawings for 33rd.

It’s definitely been slower than expected, but hopefully the Project can get budget for construction of the first phase of the Main Street this fall so construction can begin next spring.
 
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