What about it doesn't fit in Marda Loop?

What does fit into Marda Loop?

I am genuinely curious in your thoughts. To me, Marda Loop is nothing if not a mash up of bits of every era of design, scale and use. There's 1970s, 1980s and 1990s-era strip malls, gas stations, modern walkable apartments, faux-heritage Garrison Woods stuff, all sorts of McMansions, tasteful infills, non-tasteful ones, townhomes and row houses, 1950s era bungalows. What about this proposal doesn't fit?

Maybe some better renderings will change my mind but I think this is Courtyard 33 part 2. Could be the beer tanks in the rendering, but this just feels like it belongs in Inglewood over by Cold Garden or in the Barley Belt. Or maybe I'm just bitter over how disappointing Courtyard 33 turned out and expect this to be cheaped out on and am preparing for this to disappoint as well.

I want to be able to sit on a patio on the main street in the summer and like buildings that cater to that. This is just a full length glass wall and some weird corrugated siding. As a poster above stated, it looks semi permanent. I think the stuff Leonard Development group has done tops everything else in the neighbourhood, and judging by the popularity of the businesses (which is adding real vibrancy), I think many others agree. But knowing that we can't build the desired density by simply retrofitting old 2 story apartment buildings and houses, some other buildings nearby that are to my personal taste are:

The faux heritage buildings on Garrison Gate
Infinity on 34th Ave
The RNDSQR building on 16th St
Whatever this new building on 34th Ave and 22nd St is called
The OG OJs
The building with Our Daily Brett on 14th
 
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Maybe some better renderings will change my mind but I think this is Courtyard 33 part 2. Could be the beer tanks in the rendering, but this just feels like it belongs in Inglewood over by Cold Garden or in the Barley Belt. Or maybe I'm just bitter over how disappointing Courtyard 33 turned out and expect this to be cheaped out on and am preparing for this to disappoint as well.

I want to be able to sit on a patio on the main street in the summer and like buildings that cater to that. This is just a full length glass wall and some weird corrugated siding. As a poster above stated, it looks semi permanent. I think the stuff Leonard Development group has done tops everything else in the neighbourhood, and judging by the popularity of the businesses (which is adding real vibrancy), I think many others agree. But knowing that we can't build the desired density by simply retrofitting old 2 story apartment buildings and houses, some other buildings nearby that are to my personal taste are:

The faux heritage buildings on Garrison Gate
Infinity on 34th Ave
The RNDSQR building on 16th St
Whatever this new building on 34th Ave and 22nd St is called
The OG OJs
The building with Our Daily Brett on 14th

Courtyard 33 is an entirely different project with different specifications. I have faith in MoDA to deliver a decent product as they have done good work in the past.

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Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out our FARM project. As many of you have alluded to, the project on our website was originally intended for Edmonton. However, that deal fell through, so we're bringing the concept to Calgary, albeit as a slightly smaller version. We're working closely with the client to bring in some high quality restauranteurs (can't mention who just yet) that will make this a very desirable destination in Marda Loop. We're proposing a flat-white finish on the metal which we feel will will add a level of sophistication, while diminishing the industrial feel of bare metal. A large mural is planned for the east elevation. Site signs with updated renderings are being printed now and should be installed soon. Construction is targeted for late summer/early fall of this year.
 
Very exciting! I love all the little weirdness in Marda Loop. This would be a great addition.
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I happened to be in ML for brunch last Saturday - an unscientific estimate at the lines at the random time I walked through suggests demand for cafes/breakfast/food/cocktails exceeds supply by about 500%. All these little urban-format retail projects suggest the development industry has noticed.

Combined with the streetscape improvements and a ton of apartment/townhouse infill, ML is looking quite a bit more populated, vibrant, urban and walkable in the near future.
 
The signage on the fence shows a Bussin proposed in the building. I haven’t been to Bussin yet, but if that’s truly what’s going in, there will be Boogies, Bussin, Meltwich, and Sammies all within throwing distance of that intersection. Seems redundant.
 
Nope. Landowner never developed, instead a few food trucks call the location home under the name 'The Lot'.
Correct, the same owner planned to build this on the site located at the NE corner of 124 Street and 107 Avenue but pushed pause right around Covid. This proposal looks like it will be transplanted to Marda Loop. Cool building, it won't be cheap to build though. Need mucho rents (+$40/SF and up) for it to pencil out esp. given where interest rates are.
 
The signage on the fence shows a Bussin proposed in the building. I haven’t been to Bussin yet, but if that’s truly what’s going in, there will be Boogies, Bussin, Meltwich, and Sammies all within throwing distance of that intersection. Seems redundant.
Agglomeration economies.

People like sandwiches - plus there's segmentation here. You forgot Chachis that just opened as well:
  • Sammies: contemporary and fancier. Brunch not burger focused.
  • Boogies: local chain, burger focus. Old school casual.
  • Meltwich: lower price fast-food, national chain with dozens of locations.
  • Bussin: vibe burgers, newest entrant I don't know anything about.
  • Chachi's: downtown corporate food court chain for those that want their +15 network sandwiches but work-from-home now.
A rant on sandwich clusters and the evolution of Marda Loop:
Clustering, diversity and segmentation are the by-product of a retail area hitting critical mass. The Marda Loop cluster is starting to hit that point where it's self-sustaining - if you were to open a sandwich shop in the inner SW/West of Calgary, where else would you open it? Despite some level of existing competition, Marda Loop still jumps out as a leading candidate as it's where the action is and a definable, growing existing market. This is why agglomerations are so resilient - once they are triggered, even if it costs more and comes with headaches (congestion, competition) it's usually worth locating in a cluster than away from one because all other options are riskier. You could have a sandwich shop elsewhere randomly - but people and activity aren't spread randomly so you are taking a risk.

From an inner SW/West Calgary perspective (i.e. the box between the River and Glenmore Trail; Sarcee and 14 Street SW), I don't think the local retail market has a competitor to Marda Loop's growing cluster, nor one that is growing faster. Marda Loop is transitioning to attract substantial traffic from outside the community as well - turning a smaller local cluster into something a bit broader, with more depth of offerings. I'd go as far to say that Marda Loop is creating a new retail "scene" - where there's starting to be lots of stuff to eat and hang out at all in one area where there really wasn't much interesting going on before.

Part of the success of Marda Loop is that everything else nearby is pretty meh from a retail perspective - outside the city centre, inner SW/West Calgary is strip malls every kilometre or two with maybe 1 or 2 food places maximum. It's not always offensively car-oriented, nor is the food options particularly lacking or poor quality, but it all sums up to pretty low-density, standard strip mall stuff that doesn't attract much energy or attention. The only location I can think of that is kind of similar to Marda Loop (if you squint) from a retail potential pint of view is that restaurants clustered along 17th Avenue SW near Westbrook. But even that is much smaller, has no real vibe or definition as a distinct place (yet). A bunch of sizeable developments are in the pipeline here so it'll be a promising area to watch. Until then, it's really only the Marda Loop Show in the area.

Three things that Marda Loop needs to take the next step in it's evolution as a retail scene:
  • Tame the cars and noise so patios can be a thing - there's plenty of almost good patio spots, but no great ones. All are undermined by an excessive population of fast SUVs ripping around in all directions, at all times.
  • Add some street streets and actual sidewalks like it's an urban place.
  • More non-generic spots - thinking like those Leonard Group infills but more notable; or any non-chain restaurant/café/bar/patio/bakery that becomes well known as achieving something above the average (e.g. food quality, nightlife, music, killer patio vibes - whatever). Every great scene needs an institution; Marda Loop doesn't have any yet.
The main streets project to upgrade the public realm will address some of what's missing, but will take some more innovation and private development / retailer focus to really get Marda Loop to the next level.
 
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