As was illustrated in an earlier photoshop, nothing on the outside of this building resembles the original block. It has been painted over to the point where it is an eyesore to me, every time I walk past. Whether there are other empty lots in the vicinity is immaterial. Truman purchased this particular property from the existing owner. They now own it and did not purchase it to keep the block intact. Obviously the previous owner was not going to put any more money into it so it was likely to end up looking like that 'sorry' block of buildings on 7th Ave (subject of the Stephen Ave Quarter).
 
I wish this were on the parking lot across the street, but it’s not. I’m in favour of adding people and investment to the area in the hope that the surrounding lots get some development momentum too, like we’ve seen at 5th St SW and 14th St SW on the same avenue.
 
Stephen Ave said:
I know rents have been going up in Calgary but I don’t think they’re that high yet. Maybe they figure rents will be up in that range by the time the building is done.
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MissingMiddle said:
They are not, and I doubt they will be anytime very soon. That's what you pay for a really great 1 bed in Toronto packed with amenities.
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I'm based in the lower mainland so $2250 will get you a 1 bedroom on the verge of shit unit downtown these days. I wouldn't put too much stock in $2250 being based in reality in YYC moving forward
 
Well, just got the e-mail from the brokerage, this project is sold out. Took 11 days. Wow. Said that some investors were buying 10 at a time.

Let's hope we see a permit submitted soon, and perhaps ground breaking in the spring?
 
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adamyyc said:
I’m not surprised, in particular because of the quality of the design.
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I'm thinking its the SW mountain views from the north facing units.
1661463651865-png.422706
 
MichaelS said:
Well, just got the e-mail from the brokerage, this project is sold out. Took 11 days. Wow. Said that some investors were buying 10 at a time.

Let's hope we see a permit submitted soon, and perhaps ground breaking in the spring?
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I guess I should change my vote from Sovereign to Gallery as the next large project to break ground in this thread
 
Wowzers. Sold out already. Well, that’s rough. Should we expect to see the businesses in the… Western Block?… shuttering pretty soon? Or like… I mean the whole thing is full, so how long is the eviction process? I can’t imagine it would be any less than a year, no?
 
Truman are quite bullish, it would depend on their permits I bet. They likely notified all the tenants when they bought the place.

I'm looking forward to the sidewalks being more than 2x wider there, these old buildings have the tiniest of sidewalks, people must have been smaller 100 years ago haha.
 
Historical architecture loss aside, this project concerns me for another reason. The last thing Calgary needs is Toronto real estate speculators coming in to drive up the cost of housing here. In what universe is a 475 sf studio apartment starting at $400k normal? The post also said some investors bought 10 units. This is basically just another real estate ponzi scheme. I fail to see how this will increase vibrancy since it will eliminate multiple CRU's in favour of 1 large one which will likely be occupied by a high end restaurant or a bank.

I've liked Truman until now. Their other projects were net improvements to either greenfield areas or under utilized lots on 17th ave. This is the exact type of development I abhor.

Question for any gay forumers: will this project demolish the Back lot?
 
Investors buying it means that it will basically function as a rental building. At these prices it won't be the absentee landlord scenario I hope, probably have a management company look after the building on behalf of the investors. I think there are a couple retail units as well as the restaurant space. Some renders had the backlot building refurbished, but not sure it's part of the same title. The rub n tug will definitely go, not disappointed about that part lol.
 
O-tac said:
I fail to see how this will increase vibrancy since it will eliminate multiple CRU's in favour of 1 large one which will likely be occupied by a high end restaurant or a bank.
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Projects like this increase vibrancy by increasing the number of people living in the neighborhood. On the retail side this one is probably a wash, since a well functioning heritage retail space is lost. But all those new tenants will walk to shops all around the neighborhood, helping out with retail vibrancy on a larger scale.
 
O-tac said:
Historical architecture loss aside, this project concerns me for another reason. The last thing Calgary needs is Toronto real estate speculators coming in to drive up the cost of housing here. In what universe is a 475 sf studio apartment starting at $400k normal? The post also said some investors bought 10 units. This is basically just another real estate ponzi scheme. I fail to see how this will increase vibrancy since it will eliminate multiple CRU's in favour of 1 large one which will likely be occupied by a high end restaurant or a bank.

I've liked Truman until now. Their other projects were net improvements to either greenfield areas or under utilized lots on 17th ave. This is the exact type of development I abhor.

Question for any gay forumers: will this project demolish the Back lot?
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I agree with every point you make. I mean, the investor-bought units will definitely be rented out, but it will be a net vibrancy cratering in a pretty nice block of downtown unfortunately.

Also no, the Backlot survives… if the rickety structure survives the shaking from construction :p



I should add though, this would be the 16th high rise building and 15th residential building built along Tenth Avenue in the last decade or so once it's finished. That's pretty a pretty big number for a stretch only about 16 blocks. It really is too bad this couldn't be proposed on one of the lots down the block at 2nd and 10th that are both perfect-sized empty parking lots already (let alone the obvious gargantuan surface parking horrorshow directly north of this proposal)
 
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zagox said:
Projects like this increase vibrancy by increasing the number of people living in the neighborhood. On the retail side this one is probably a wash, since a well functioning heritage retail space is lost. But all those new tenants will walk to shops all around the neighborhood, helping out with retail vibrancy on a larger scale.
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Presuming that half of them don't sit empty as has happened with numerous investor driven towers before.

Also, this could be the beginning of the destruction of more heritage properties on that block since it seems its cheaper for developers to buy them than empty parking lots.
 
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