Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

[YourBoy007]

This could be interesting....

DMAP

If anyone recalls, this includes the strip of historical buildings that front onto 7th Avenue that had a robo parkade proposedo on them about 8-9 years ago. That parkade, despite getting Council approval, still got defeated as the appeal board, with one of the major sticking points being raised by the owners on the south side of the lane about dumpster management in a congested laneway that was planning to introduce a 500 stall parkade. Parkade fell through, and I heard the lands were sold to the very company that filed the appeal (just a rumour, not sure). Now, with what appears to be consolidated properties, there is an application in to rezone most of this block, which would allow a comprehensive plan to deal with things like site servicing.

No DP yet, but I would not be surprised to see one soon.....

Robo-parkade planned for downtown Calgary - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

The city’s planning commission has approved a major redevelopment downtown that will include Calgary’s first automated parkade.

globalnews.ca

Here's the old rendering for it. IMO, yes, a robo-parkade with mix use is a vast improvement over this run-down and abandon strip.
However, it's directly across from Calgary's crown jewel and a hop from Stephen Ave. We don't need more parking downtown. We need people. They need to quit catering to cars. That's what has led us to our downtown ghost towns in the first place. I think we can do better with this parcel.

 

[CBBarnett]

Calgary is chalk full of terrible, terrible sidewalks but i think that the southside of 9 ave between 8st and 5st SW is the worst sidewalk condition i may have ever seen in any city i've ever been to, and I was in Vietnam for two months. This public realm and sidewalk with streetlights directly in the centre of them is an absolute embarrassment: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.045...4!1sh2fZllAsqmlwfowEO2UtAQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Whoever let this happen should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

The things walkscore doesn't tell you:

Good thing this guy isn't in a wheelchair or has a stroller with him.

That's the part I never get and most infuriating - the drivers can totally keep their 4 lanes in this location! I would argue that's still way over-built and still car-dominated, but that's the next battle; first just tighten the lanes up to a consistent 3.0m instead of random and over-built wide 3.3 - 4.0m each, and this guy would have an extra 2+ metres of sidewalk width.

Can we not at least get commit to a minimum width?

 

[YourBoy007]

Lol that street lamp was considered more than that pedestrian. I find it incredibly ironic that many of the people who commute to work downtown via car are the ones met with the least walkable sidewalk in the city as soon as they step out of their car.

 

[Calgcouver]

This could be interesting....

DMAP

If anyone recalls, this includes the strip of historical buildings that front onto 7th Avenue that had a robo parkade proposedo on them about 8-9 years ago. That parkade, despite getting Council approval, still got defeated as the appeal board, with one of the major sticking points being raised by the owners on the south side of the lane about dumpster management in a congested laneway that was planning to introduce a 500 stall parkade. Parkade fell through, and I heard the lands were sold to the very company that filed the appeal (just a rumour, not sure). Now, with what appears to be consolidated properties, there is an application in to rezone most of this block, which would allow a comprehensive plan to deal with things like site servicing.

No DP yet, but I would not be surprised to see one soon.....

Whoa that is really exciting, I love that block. I hope that they can do something using the facades and intensifying the site. A good example of what i would love to see here would be the integration of the facades into a mid-rise format similar to projects in Gastown. This Westbank one on 33 West Cordova (that i've posted about before) that backs onto Blood Alley would be great inspiration to use for this site.
Street-facing elevation:

Lane-facing elevation and treatment:

I hope they respect and expand on the heritage buildings along this stretch in a similar way.

 

[MichaelS]

Yes please! Also gives the added bonus of not blocking Telus Sky and The Bow in our skyline view from the south. If they block those two, it better be with something spectacular.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Robo-parkade planned for downtown Calgary - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

The city’s planning commission has approved a major redevelopment downtown that will include Calgary’s first automated parkade.

globalnews.ca

Here's the old rendering for it. IMO, yes, a robo-parkade with mix use is a vast improvement over this run-down and abandon strip.
However, it's directly across from Calgary's crown jewel and a hop from Stephen Ave. We don't need more parking downtown. We need people. They need to quit catering to cars. That's what has led us to our downtown ghost towns in the first place. I think we can do better with this parcel.

My wish would be for the existing buildings to be renovated and brought back to life. Or if it does have to be redeveloped make it residential with the same retail units like @Calgcouver’s example. If not, I’d rather see the buildings renovated and have new developments built on empty parcels elsewhere.

 

[Joborule]

This could be interesting....

DMAP

If anyone recalls, this includes the strip of historical buildings that front onto 7th Avenue that had a robo parkade proposedo on them about 8-9 years ago. That parkade, despite getting Council approval, still got defeated as the appeal board, with one of the major sticking points being raised by the owners on the south side of the lane about dumpster management in a congested laneway that was planning to introduce a 500 stall parkade. Parkade fell through, and I heard the lands were sold to the very company that filed the appeal (just a rumour, not sure). Now, with what appears to be consolidated properties, there is an application in to rezone most of this block, which would allow a comprehensive plan to deal with things like site servicing.

No DP yet, but I would not be surprised to see one soon.....

Something definitely gotta get done with that blocks to make it have more prominence and activity during both the day and night. I think it would be wise to actually build an eastbound 1st Street station, and close the Centre Street station since 1st Street is a transit corridor, and is a road that connects the river into the beltline.

 

[adamyyc]

Whoa that is really exciting, I love that block. I hope that they can do something using the facades and intensifying the site. A good example of what i would love to see here would be the integration of the facades into a mid-rise format similar to projects in Gastown. This Westbank one on 33 West Cordova (that i've posted about before) that backs onto Blood Alley would be great inspiration to use for this site.
Street-facing elevation:
View attachment 396702
Lane-facing elevation and treatment:
View attachment 396704
I hope they respect and expand on the heritage buildings along this stretch in a similar way.

I got excited for a second because I thought this was happening in Calgary.

 

[Urban Outdoorsman]

This could be interesting....

DMAP

If anyone recalls, this includes the strip of historical buildings that front onto 7th Avenue that had a robo parkade proposedo on them about 8-9 years ago. That parkade, despite getting Council approval, still got defeated as the appeal board, with one of the major sticking points being raised by the owners on the south side of the lane about dumpster management in a congested laneway that was planning to introduce a 500 stall parkade. Parkade fell through, and I heard the lands were sold to the very company that filed the appeal (just a rumour, not sure). Now, with what appears to be consolidated properties, there is an application in to rezone most of this block, which would allow a comprehensive plan to deal with things like site servicing.

No DP yet, but I would not be surprised to see one soon.....

DP: https://developmentmap.calgary.ca/?find=DP2022-02927

No renders yet but the application says it's for "Office, Hotel, Multi-Residential Development, Retail and Consumer Service (1 building)"

Looks like this could be a big one

 

[FCC1982]

Yes, could be very, very big.
Let us know when that DP comes in MichaelS and if The Bow & Telus Sky will be blocked.

 

[CT (Chinese_T)]

My wish would be for the existing buildings to be renovated and brought back to life. Or if it does have to be redeveloped make it residential with the same retail units like @Calgcouver’s example. If not, I’d rather see the buildings renovated and have new developments built on empty parcels elsewhere.

Something like KING Toronto (also Westbank) would be really cool.

The moral of the story is that Westbank makes good developments

 

[Disraeli]

It looks like the Palomino building is part of the plan. I would be sad to see it go as it is a cool spot. But overall this is a really unique opportunity to revitalize nearly an entire block of heritage buildings in a prominent location while adding density and retail. I am praying for a good design and dedicated developers.

 

[MissingMiddle]

Something like KING Toronto (also Westbank) would be really cool.

Those condos go for up to $2800/sqft.

 

[Chinook Arch]

It is: are residential conversions really the best we can do when there is a pot of $75-$500 million to spend on activating the downtown?

That’s a tough question and nobody knows for sure the answer, but IMO it’s the best option at the moment.

I agree with the previous comments that we need a combination of solutions. More residents , more retail, more events, and better sidewalks and lighting etc. I am leaning towards the residential conversions as the best options because of surrealplaces point about the permanency of it. It’s a one time cost and once it’s done it’s there forever. I also believe we can do 20 conversions but spread out over 10 or 15 years.

The city can put money into pop-up events or retail but those don’t guarantee permanency. Retail is %100 fickle and will only survive if there are customers for it. Vibrant retail can’t be forced it happens by itslef. It would be nice to have pop-up events and festivals, but the vibrancy created from those events is only temporary. If none of the people attending the event live downtown they’re all going to leave when the event is over.

Get more residents in the core, start adding more events and festivals etc., and the retail will follow on its own.

 

[Patrick.1980]

I'm not saying residential conversion are the answer either, but it is a permanent one time cost. I don't want to see the city fund 20 conversion projects, but a half dozen can't hurt. Either that or subsidize one big project like Bow Valley Square.

Would it be any better though? Events can be subsidized to bring people to the core, but downtown's long time issue of not keeping people downtown doesn't really get solved. People come in for the events and leave when they're done. The minute the events and activation etc..aren't subsidized they'll stop happening, and we're back to where we are but with nothing permanent to show for it. My biggest issue with funding the conversions is that it competes against other residential developments.

I'm not saying residential conversion are the answer either, but it is a permanent one time cost. I don't want to see the city fund 20 conversion projects, but a half dozen can't hurt. Either that or subsidize one big project like Bow Valley Square.

The competition with developers is indirect. There is little opportunity for new residential developments in the CBD except for conversions. They would compete somewhat with Beltline developments, but the locations are kind of apples to oranges. Why not fund 20 conversions? Do it over a 10 year period and it's only two projects per year.