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Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

Albertasaurus said:
I'm with you. It's annoying seeing perfectly useable buildings, in some cases really nice buildings being torn down (Truman, First & Tenth and Broward???) when there are so many parking lots in the downtown and beltline.
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I’m always curious when I see “perfectly usable “ buildings being torn down. Of all the building torn down recently. Which one(s) had enough value to keep them up?
 
New development permit for the affordable housing on 20th and 6th Street NW
https://developmentmap.calgary.ca/?find=DP2023-07946
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Golfing guy said:
I’m always curious when I see “perfectly usable “ buildings being torn down. Of all the building torn down recently. Which one(s) had enough value to keep them up?
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Golfing guy said:
I’m always curious when I see “perfectly usable “ buildings being torn down. Of all the building torn down recently. Which one(s) had enough value to keep them up?
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I should clarify that in the case of First & Tenth, the teardown hasn't happened yet. But the office building I mentioned earlier that was torn down at 17th and 4th, leaving us a gravel lot, was maybe 40 or so years old and could have been repurposed. A number of character buildings torn down for The Broward.

Perhaps these parking lots make bank, and so there's less of an economic case to redevelop them, but I have seen a lot of buildings torn down in the past few years leaving just vacant lots. In my view even an empty building waiting to be reused is still better than a gravel lot. So much is going right in Calgary right now - we're rapidly heading towards 2 million people in the metro, the economy is growing and diversifying, we're becoming a top destination for immigrants, etc etc yet it seems like in many respects downtown is going in the wrong direction.
 
It's hard to pinpoint the age of the square building on the SE corner of the TransAlta campus as it appears like it might have been an expansion of a building that's been around since at least the 1920s. That building exists in the city's map imagery up until work appears to be starting on it in 1966 when the existing building either replaced it or the old building was expanded onto. I'm curious if the building has any historical significance at all.
 
Duck Lightning said:
It's hard to pinpoint the age of the square building on the SE corner of the TransAlta campus as it appears like it might have been an expansion of a building that's been around since at least the 1920s. That building exists in the city's map imagery up until work appears to be starting on it in 1966 when the existing building either replaced it or the old building was expanded onto. I'm curious if the building has any historical significance at all.
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The building on the SE corner is staying I believe - it's only the larger, more modern building that is being torn down
 
Albertasaurus said:
I should clarify that in the case of First & Tenth, the teardown hasn't happened yet. But the office building I mentioned earlier that was torn down at 17th and 4th, leaving us a gravel lot, was maybe 40 or so years old and could have been repurposed. A number of character buildings torn down for The Broward.

Perhaps these parking lots make bank, and so there's less of an economic case to redevelop them, but I have seen a lot of buildings torn down in the past few years leaving just vacant lots. In my view even an empty building waiting to be reused is still better than a gravel lot. So much is going right in Calgary right now - we're rapidly heading towards 2 million people in the metro, the economy is growing and diversifying, we're becoming a top destination for immigrants, etc etc yet it seems like in many respects downtown is going in the wrong direction.
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The building on 17/4th had structural issues. so i believe it had to come down. There probably isn't one developer in Calgary would choose the parking lot n/o 1st/10th that backs onto the train tracks over the site they are building on.
Sometimes the loss of an old building isn't that historically significant. I'd rather have some more density and some vacant lots vs saving all old crappy buildings. 20 years from now, id guess most parking lots will be developed.
 
Golfing guy said:
The building on 17/4th had structural issues. so i believe it had to come down. There probably isn't one developer in Calgary would choose the parking lot n/o 1st/10th that backs onto the train tracks over the site they are building on.
Sometimes the loss of an old building isn't that historically significant. I'd rather have some more density and some vacant lots vs saving all old crappy buildings. 20 years from now, id guess most parking lots will be developed.
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We all want the density to happen, but right now it seems like we're getting plenty of new vacant lots without a lot of density happening. I question the assertion that a ~50 year old building is "structurally unsound". And while I like The Broward, the buildings that were taken down to enable its construction were of high architectural quality and character.

What do you think is going to happen to that prominent lot at 17th and 4th? I really hope I'm wrong but I'll wager it'll be a decade or more before anything gets built on it.
 
Albertasaurus said:
We all want the density to happen, but right now it seems like we're getting plenty of new vacant lots without a lot of density happening. I question the assertion that a ~50 year old building is "structurally unsound". And while I like The Broward, the buildings that were taken down to enable its construction were of high architectural quality and character.

What do you think is going to happen to that prominent lot at 17th and 4th? I really hope I'm wrong but I'll wager it'll be a decade or more before anything gets built on it.
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Not every lot can be built on at once in the Beltline or even the rest of the downtown area. I’m glad we have a high supply of vacant/parking lots. It helps keep down the price of building new supply. City’s with low land availability have sky high prices for their condos. “Lower” prices in Urban and Suburban area is one of the leading factors why people are moving to Calgary in high numbers.
It does suck that some of the most prominent empty lots aren’t being built on. Let’s not rip developers who are actually investing in new highrises. Maybe find out who owns all the vacant lots and get on their cases.
The building on 17/4th has been rumoured to be structurally unsound for years. I doubt the owners would have evicted the tenants of the building and spent millions tearing it down if there was nothing wrong with it (just to make a parking lot)
 
It was a different one, Kincora Towers, but in kind of the same area. Should we create a thread for this one as well? Granted these are suburban projects, not part of a larger masterplan the way West District is per se, but they are pretty substantial. Much bigger than the typical wood frame suburban condos you see. I am also aware of a few more like this coming down the pipe, so might not hurt to have threads for them. It is interesting to see even some of our outer edge burbs getting skylines, but as we fast approach the 2 million population mark, it is just a natural evolution I suppose.

If we do create a thread, it is Cidex as the developer, NORR architects. Project is called Nolan Hill Rise. 16s, 52m. A few more renderings from the DP drawings.

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