Need another reason to consider Calgary as your new hometown? This article gives you another to add to your list, read below:
Retail, restaurants and rooftops: Calgary’s Beltline is getting a major upgrade
A western Canadian developer will build three large towers in downtown Calgary, with the aim of bringing urban life to an underused corner of the city through a new, vibrant community that will be built at street level.
The project, called Broadway on 17th, is at the intersection of two main streets at the edge of Calgary’s Beltline, a central urban neighbourhood known for its nightlife and inner-city vibes.
Right now, the site is unattractive. The project’s developer, Vesta Properties, has described it as “a large void space in the current urban fabric of Calgary.” However, the company believes it can change this by transforming the property into a dynamic development that blends city living with sophistication, convenience and community.
“We see the project as a catalyst for future mixed use in the area and for activating street life to the east of the site,” says Kent Sillars, president of Vesta Properties. “We’re hoping to have a major impact on the adjacent neighbourhood. Right now, our site comprises gravel-covered areas, surface parking, a cluster of small unoccupied buildings and an old house being used for commercial purposes.”
An ‘urban transformation’ in Calgary
Vesta Properties’ proposal calls for three large residential towers, the tallest of which will be 47 storeys, with the other two reaching 35 and 37 storeys respectively. However, Mr. Sillars says the commercial, retail and recreational development at street level is what will make or break the project.
“We’re trying to fuel an urban transformation,” he says. “We see the ground level as an extension of the Beltline neighbourhood and Calgary’s Entertainment District.”
Once complete, the ground-level development will include 70,000 square feet of retail – just less than double the size of the average supermarket. Mr. Sillars says there will also be restaurants, clothing stores and coffee shops.
“This will surround a gathering space at the corner where people can walk around, sit and have lunch,” he says. “The people who live in the towers and the nearby neighbourhoods can use the retail, go to the restaurants. We hope to attract a vibrant mix of people.”
Developing a purposefully designed community
While creating an attractive, “master-planned” neighbourhood is a worthwhile goal, it’s not easy, says urban designer, author and consultant Ken Greenberg, principal of Greenberg Consultants in Toronto. The trick is to avoid the extremes of ugly sprawl or isolated, giant towers, he says.
“Getting this kind of neighbourhood going can be done, and it has been done,” he says, pointing to Toronto’s The Well – a mixed-use area known for its trendy shops, restaurants and luxury residences – as an example of what works.
“If you’re building towers where people will live, you need to make sure all the ground-level development – the retail, the restaurants and the services – are oriented toward the daily lives of the people who live there.”
One mistake Mr. Greenberg sees with respect to new mixed-use developments is including too much “destination” retail space – brand-name stores that are typically in malls and sometimes struggle to compete with online shopping.
“You want to grow an actual, living neighbourhood that has things to do and attracts people who live nearby and visitors from outside. Otherwise, you’ll just be building a high-rise version of sprawl,” he says.
Minimizing sprawl
Sprawl remains a controversial issue in most large cities, including Calgary. Faced with a shortage of affordable housing, the city passed a bylaw late last year that makes it easier for single-family homeowners to turn their houses into duplexes, fourplexes or row houses. While it would affect nearly 312,000 properties, it’s already subject to a court challenge from some residents who fear the bylaw will lead to changes in their neighbourhoods.
The bylaw doesn’t directly affect the Broadway on 17th development because it’s not an existing residential site. However, Mr. Greenberg says it’s still important to pay attention to adjacent neighbourhoods that are affected by the bylaw.
“A good goal for a [master-planned] neighbourhood is to have a checkerboard, about 50 per cent employment – whether it’s retail, recreational or commercial – and about 50 per cent residential,” he says.
“It’s not how dense you make it; it’s how you make it dense,” he adds, quoting Jonathan Barnett, University of Pennsylvania planning professor emeritus.
A master-planned checkerboard
In his book Implementing Urban Design, Mr. Barnett compares designing a neighbourhood where people want to visit and stay to moving furniture around. Rather than just organizing sofas and chairs without a plan, it helps to go in with a roadmap, he suggests.
“It can save a lot of effort to sketch out and evaluate some of the potential variations before moving the furniture around,” Mr. Barnett writes. He points to urban design’s multi-step process, which begins with ensuring the design is a sound investment. Secondly, governments and regulators need to be clear about their expectations so they can be a positive force rather than a hindrance.
When it comes to regulation, Calgary’s city council and the Alberta government have a light touch, Mr. Sillars says. “It’s a reasonable environment to do business here – not every place is like this.”
Engaging the public is also important, according to Mr. Barnett. People should be able to see “how buildings, streets and public open space can fit together to form attractive places,” he explains. “These designs must also make financial sense both for investors and for governments allocating their limited resources.”
Mr. Greenberg says a successful master plan needs other elements, too. For example, when a project is well-connected to transit, it allows people to experience the street life of the new development without the burden of a lengthy or inconvenient drive.
“In the end though, the success of a new community comes down to storytelling. It needs to be more than some towers with a plaza below,” he says. “A successful new community is one that has a narrative, creating a vision that the public will understand.”
