General Rating of the Project

  • Great

    Votes: 20 34.5%
  • Very Good

    Votes: 26 44.8%
  • Good

    Votes: 10 17.2%
  • So So

    Votes: 2 3.4%
  • Not Very Good

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Terrible

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    58
Why do things take so long here?!?
 
Did this site sell to someone else or does Grosvenor still own this?

I just don't even get excited at Land Use Redesignations for towers or mid-rise anymore because they end up getting built so infrequently. Doesn't seem Grosvenor has interest in building residential here or in Calgary in general, maybe I'm wrong. I also thought i saw this site listed for sale about a year or so ago.
 
Did this site sell to someone else or does Grosvenor still own this?

I just don't even get excited at Land Use Redesignations for towers or mid-rise anymore because they end up getting built so infrequently. Doesn't seem Grosvenor has interest in building residential here or in Calgary in general, maybe I'm wrong. I also thought i saw this site listed for sale about a year or so ago.
this one sold to Vesta, a BC developer. here is the their website https://www.vestaproperties.com/
 
Why do things take so long here?!?
A lot of the big projects going up in other cities have been in the pipeline for years. One reason I think Calgary doesn't have a lot of cranes at the moment is that a few years back the economic situation here wasn't great and developers were giving us the cold shoulder. Anecdotally I hear the approvals timelines in Toronto and Vancouver are way longer than here so a lot of the stuff happening there was planned years ago. Now that we are the fastest growing big city again, i am optimistic you will see a lot of construction happening in the next 2-3 years. We also had a bunch of sizeable towers finish up in the last year or so.

I get it though, I just came back from a visit to Toronto and the amount of towers going up there is mind boggling. There are literally 50+ storey towers going up in Vaughan, meanwhile we have an awful looking 6 storey POS proposed for Centre St and 16 Av which is one of the most important intersections in the city. But we are starting to see some solid proposals that I am optimistic will go ahead in the next year or two, and Yellowstone is U/C and Nest and Sovereign look ready to start any day now.
 
Nice i'm familiar with Vesta. Hoping this goes sooner rather than later, they were cranking out developments in Langley when I was living out there.
I’m hopeful on this one given the land use has already been approved. There’s no reason for Vesta to buy this if they were planing to flip it, so my guess is they’re intending to build.
 
Why do things take so long here?!?
This timeline would be similar in most any city, development takes a while.
The fastest I've ever seen a residential tower project go from first concept meeting to construction drawings was about 9 months. Even with perfect financing and a perfectly coordinated design team, it takes time to put together a large project properly.

Add on a couple months for permitting, and it'll likely be a year. They could get the below grade permit to start excavating early, but even then you have to know what you're digging for.

Keep an eye out for geotechnical testing (soil samples), that will give you an indication that they're moving forward.

I just came back from a visit to Toronto and the amount of towers going up there is mind boggling. There are literally 50+ storey towers going up in Vaughan...
Toronto is a weird case, it's growing by hundreds of thousands of people a year, and most of the construction is fueled by investor driven pre-construction units - which are now hemorrhaging money. Yes they're developing quickly, but it's not sustainable development, it's just a way for landlords to siphon money from the renting class on the back of low interest rates. The wealth inequality in that city due to real estate is astounding.

Owning a condo in Calgary doesn't have the same profit margins, which is why we're not seeing that here.
 
A lot of the big projects going up in other cities have been in the pipeline for years. One reason I think Calgary doesn't have a lot of cranes at the moment is that a few years back the economic situation here wasn't great and developers were giving us the cold shoulder. Anecdotally I hear the approvals timelines in Toronto and Vancouver are way longer than here so a lot of the stuff happening there was planned years ago. Now that we are the fastest growing big city again, i am optimistic you will see a lot of construction happening in the next 2-3 years. We also had a bunch of sizeable towers finish up in the last year or so.

I get it though, I just came back from a visit to Toronto and the amount of towers going up there is mind boggling. There are literally 50+ storey towers going up in Vaughan, meanwhile we have an awful looking 6 storey POS proposed for Centre St and 16 Av which is one of the most important intersections in the city. But we are starting to see some solid proposals that I am optimistic will go ahead in the next year or two, and Yellowstone is U/C and Nest and Sovereign look ready to start any day now.
i was also visiting Toronto, i noticed they are redeveloping multiple historic building into high-rise tower. And in overall GTA there's lots of high-rise construction going on. on top of that architecture is also pretty decent.
 
2A3BA078-12B2-484E-B7C0-E1B3BF3F96AB.jpeg
It’s not a terrible lil space they’ve made. Hopefully they install some seating of some sort…
 
Yesterday, O2 had public engagement boards for https://www.liveabove17.com/ set up at Central Memorial Park's night market. Not sure if anyone else was able to make it but they are the planners working with VESTA properties on the site. Hopefully they release public renderings soon - because ya'll are going to shit when you see it!

Essentially the plan is as follows:

- Two rental towers (46 and 32 storeys). The taller situated on the corner of 4th and 15th, the shorter fronting 17th, on the Calcutta, Cilantro and former Rocky Mountain headquarters.
- A condo tower (36 storeys) situated on 15th ave, east of the 46 storey rental with townhomes fronting the street.
- Public courtyard situated in the middle of the block, with two portways connecting the courtyard to 15th ave and 17th ave
- Public plaza on the corner of 4th & 17th with an open connection into the courtyard.
- Combined total of 1000 units - and 1000 parking stalls, which may still change based on market demand.
- Lots of new multilevel CRU's fronting 15th, 4th, and 17th, as well as the plaza and inner courtyard area.

I wish I took photos, but the renderings should be released shortly. Their goal is to revive the block and start extending the 17th avenue energy east of 4th street.
Quote of what I wrote about this site in proposals.
 

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