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Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

I think why Inglewood 9 Ave would thrive, and Kensington Road & 10 St would fall apart in a recession is that smaller individuals and groups own most of the storefronts in Inglewood and are more incentivized by having full occupancy/rent roll, that is why when vacancies happen in the Burns Block, etc. they are filled in short order. These are the kind of landlords that take risks and build communities.

Whereas larger landlords and REITs that own most of the buildings in Kensington are too worried about the value of the building (ie. achieve the highest lease rate possible) that they will let it sit vacant forever waiting for a bank or similar tenant to come along and pay them $40/psf base rent. This way they don't devalue the building only to appease shareholders and make the books look good, as it is just one 'currently struggling asset' in a larger portfolio and they frankly don't care and the structure of these companies is to work this way. Sure shows in a recession where the large retail landlords own buildings, as those are the places with persistent and disruptive vacancy.

Makes sense - higher property taxes (due to the tax shift) and lower demand (due to the recession) should lead to lower net rents but the market should rebalance just fine, gross rents are still way, way above operating costs. Big landlords / REITs that sit on their hands and wait for a credit tenant are going to gum up this process.

Structurally, Kensington still has a lot of other advantages over Inglewood - a 30 year head start on LRT service, a full-size grocery store, a boutique hotel, better connectivity with the river and downtown. Kensington went through a fairly intense development cycle, now there is a bit of a slowdown, but there are plenty of projects on the horizon.
 
Some information was tweeted out today by RNDSQR about their upcoming Inglewood project. Looks like the CIBC building will be incorporated somehow but will maintain its historic designation. The car lot/sales building will be gone. There is an open house on the evening of December 10th at Spolumbos where they will be revealing more details.

Project website:
https://www.rndsqrblock.com/rndsqr-block

Rendering:
 
Another angle of it.

77196574_565955053949592_1393677450308231694_n.jpg
 
Well, tough to follow the RNDSQR Block proposal, but still need to post updates on other projects.... so with that I give you... A SUBURBAN OFFICE BUILDING!!!..
Okay. This is just the land use going to CPC, but a concurrent DP has been submitted. Remington Develompent. Location is at 110603 14th Street NE
DP summary:
1575091994100.png

I mean, just look at that Molok waste disposal system!
 
One other interesting one going to CPC next week, just land use, is the upzoning of an entire block of houses directly adjacent to the 45th Street SW C-Train station in the community of Westgate:
Location here:
1575092194732.png

Going from current R-C1 zoning to M-U1f3.5h17, so mixed-use, height of 17m with a 3.5 FAR.

There is a rendering of a proposed design, but keep in mind no DP submitted. This is from the open house boards:
1575092363277.png

I don't know if the community association supports this. Very vaguely worded letter:
 
Question for y’all - how many residential units are currently under construction in the Centre City (Downtown and Beltline)? The second tower at West Village Towers and got me thinking, we must have a couple thousand on the go.

Actually about double that!
Some of these are just finishing up construction, but because they haven't had move-ins I think of them as still u/c. Place 10 hasn't started yet, but I've added it because I think it will be soon.

U/C Beltline
11th and 11th - 369
One Tower - 379
500 Block South - 463
Curtis Block - 628
Redstone - 137
Cube - 66

Downtown
West Village Towers - 554
5th and Third - 220
933 - 5th - 74
The Hat 7th Ave - 66
Place 10 - ~850
Concord - 110
Barron conversion -100

~4000 units
 
Has anyone heard any news about the General Block by RNDSQR in Bridgeland? I always hate it when people ask this cause updates are allllways posted here, but this project is so small it might be under the radar.

Two of the three retail bays have already been leased (Village Ice Cream and Phil & Sebastians), but most recent news from their team was after community engagement and DP submissions back in July. The community was in support, so I'm just not sure why no news on approval or construction yet. Here's hoping it's a revision to have two floors of rental on top, instead of one floor of office. *crosses fingers*


Edit: Nevermind, all three bays are least, UNA Pizza being the third. All local Calgary establishments. Damn ?



2019-02-22+-+FAAS+Arch+-+RNDSQR+Render+1+REV2.jpg
 
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One other interesting one going to CPC next week, just land use, is the upzoning of an entire block of houses directly adjacent to the 45th Street SW C-Train station in the community of Westgate:
Location here:
View attachment 217759
Going from current R-C1 zoning to M-U1f3.5h17, so mixed-use, height of 17m with a 3.5 FAR.

There is a rendering of a proposed design, but keep in mind no DP submitted. This is from the open house boards:
View attachment 217760
I don't know if the community association supports this. Very vaguely worded letter:
This site can potentially become a catalyst for more retail midrises along this LRT station becoming a proper integrated TOD, similar to what Vancouver has. One of our biggest problems for TOD's is that our LRT stations are either located in the middle of highways or residential areas restrictng developments from properly integrating with the stations. I hope the zoning changes and this goes ahead. It might not seem like it yet but this could be a game changer for Calgarys TOD scene.
 
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