Calgcouver
Active Member
Yay, another land use redesignation to pump the speculative value of another site in Inglewood, without anything ever getting built in the neighbourhood.
- Thread starter MichaelS
- Start date
outoftheice
Active Member
That shop is so uniquely Inglewood I'd be okay if it just stays as is for a while longer without any development.
adamyyc
Active Member
July update from the City suggests there may be a rift between RNDSQR and the City on the funding model. Would not be surprised if we see a new development partner announced in the fall.
engage.calgary.ca
Inglewood Station
Integrated Mixed Use Facility A public-private pilot project to deliver a priority inner city Fire Station within a mid-rise transit-oriented mixed use development.
engage.calgary.ca
Albertasaurus
Active Member
Unfortunate but not surprising. RNDSQR seems to have been struggling to get things built of late, and The City seems to have a lousy track record with these sorts of partnerships.
aryanoboi
New Member
RNDSQR sucks. I’m still pissed at them for their “creation” in Marda Loop. Hopefully someone can swoop in and take over this project.
Speaking of them, is RNDSQR Block dead in the water? Haven’t heard about it in a while.
Speaking of them, is RNDSQR Block dead in the water? Haven’t heard about it in a while.
JTron
Active Member
RNDSQR took on too much, but they’ve gone back to their core strength of smaller rowhouse type projects.
The city only needs to partner up with another developer that does those scale of projects. Truman, or EC.
IanBray
Active Member
RNDSQR is a very overrated developer IMO.
Very good at small rowhouse developments however out of their depth doing anything larger. A couple of years on, their Marda Loop CY33 Commercial tin shed development is an eyesore in Marda Loop's main street. Don't know why Garrison Woods residences did not protest it more. Think they were fooled by the initial renderings. It's interesting but just 'not good'. Would have been better if it was set back and introduced some glass instead of the wall of aluminum corrugated panels.
Flyover Block (I know that they sold it) is a joke. And their designs for their several Inglewood projects will be a letdown.
They are another developer with impressive eye catching renderings that they have zero real intention of building. Their designs get watered down and value engineered after approval. It is development catfishing just like what Arlington Street Investments do. Too many of these faux developers in Calgary these days. Give me the much smaller Certus Developments any day.
Very good at small rowhouse developments however out of their depth doing anything larger. A couple of years on, their Marda Loop CY33 Commercial tin shed development is an eyesore in Marda Loop's main street. Don't know why Garrison Woods residences did not protest it more. Think they were fooled by the initial renderings. It's interesting but just 'not good'. Would have been better if it was set back and introduced some glass instead of the wall of aluminum corrugated panels.
Flyover Block (I know that they sold it) is a joke. And their designs for their several Inglewood projects will be a letdown.
They are another developer with impressive eye catching renderings that they have zero real intention of building. Their designs get watered down and value engineered after approval. It is development catfishing just like what Arlington Street Investments do. Too many of these faux developers in Calgary these days. Give me the much smaller Certus Developments any day.
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adamyyc
Active Member
Agreed on Certus! They are that perfect middle ground. They don’t get overly ambitious when it comes to design (I.e., don’t promise something they can’t deliver), but most of their buildings are quality materials with timeless design.
Not sure if they would be the City’s first choice for this development though, as it doesn’t seem like they do much residential, but I could be wrong.
Not sure if they would be the City’s first choice for this development though, as it doesn’t seem like they do much residential, but I could be wrong.
Colinfill
Active Member
Also, I'm always very impressed with the tenants that Certus seems to attract. They always get the right mix of tenants for the property/neighbourhood.
Stephen Ave
Active Member
That not exactly true. From what I’ve seen RNDSQR has always had a real intention of building their projects - yes the designs haven’t always turned out like the rendering - mainly Courtyard33. Sometimes that happens when you try and think outside of the box.
Other projects like General Block, Beacon and Grow turned out as planned. Same goes for most of their smaller row home projects.
Faux developer? IMO, no. Overly ambitious? Sure.
IanBray
Active Member
Yes this rebuttal is fair.
My faux developer comment is more directed at their planned large scale developments. Grow is excellent and General Block and Beacon are very good. All smaller developments and they do those very very well. However, thety are just not cut out for large multi-residential and got too far ahead of their skis.
My 'faux developer' comment related to RNDSQR thinkink that they can and will build this. Not...a...chance they can or will. Thid is 'faux development'. Just stick to what they do very well which is smaller buildings!
Calgcouver
Active Member
RNDSQR has done a commendable job on the projects they have executed on. Larger projects are challenging to finance and it is very hard to transition from smaller projects to much larger ones without a significant influx in investors with cash contributions to get the projects off the ground. Who knows if this was the case, but they put solid effort into the designs for the larger projects they were looking at, i would imagine it was just a lot to finance and getting back to smaller projects and focusing on there core competencies is a better solution for them at this point in there company's history.
I'm rooting for RNDSQR's success as they have been one of the most interesting and ballsy homebuilders in the City.
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adamyyc
Active Member
Agreed! I like most of what RNDSQR has executed and I would argue that among the developers in the City, they have the best of intentions. They put a lot of thought into their developments and do try something different each time, which is a refreshing change from some others whose project can be a bit repetitive.
Stephen Ave
Active Member
Fair point. After seeing Courtyard 33 as a finished product I was skeptical Inglewood Block and Arc33 would end up looking like the renderings. They had an ‘ASI’ feel to them.
Urb
Active Member
Well said. We complain when developers build bland boxes, so we shouldn't rag on groups like RNDSQR that are trying to provide innovative developments that come with a cost premium.They took a lot of design risk trying to do things other developers wouldn't do. They are still a young operation and made a lot of mistakes over their first cycle. They'll learn and hopefully do more of these creative projects in the future.