HaileyDarling said:
If you look at any successful neighborhood... Kensington, Marda loop, 17th, bridgeland, Inglewood... they all have retail at ground level which is what makes pedestrian friendly, vibrant, safe streets (all of which have very high occupancy rates). Building purely residential is short sighted, and wouldn't happen in successfully planned urban cities. Calgary is letting developers decide what happens to the revitalization of these urban neighbourhoods and it's very unfortunate to watch; this would never happen in Vancouver or Toronto, where the vibrancy of neighbourhoods and streets is key to the success of the city.
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I'd love to see some retail at the base of this building and I imagine that's what the City was anticipating with the amount of concrete they've included on the sidewalk in front. That said, in my experience, when planners attempt to play developer/architect it leads to poor project outcomes. There are also plenty of pure resi developments in Vancouver and Toronto.

Unfortunately streetfront retail on 37th is not super viable at this point - for example look at the poor leaseup on the single storey retail building that just went up across the street. It's a bit of a chicken/egg scenario here - that stretch of 37th doesn't have enough density to make streetfront viable but this building will add residents that should help the viablility of future retail projects in the area.
 
Isn't street front retail deader than dead given the acceptance of ecommerce? About the only types of street front businesses than stand a chance are experiential: ex. coffee shops, restaurants and bars.
 
Between the approved DP, the coming soon in 2025, and the demolition of the houses construction may be imminent.

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artvandelay said:
I'd love to see some retail at the base of this building and I imagine that's what the City was anticipating with the amount of concrete they've included on the sidewalk in front. That said, in my experience, when planners attempt to play developer/architect it leads to poor project outcomes. There are also plenty of pure resi developments in Vancouver and Toronto.

Unfortunately streetfront retail on 37th is not super viable at this point - for example look at the poor leaseup on the single storey retail building that just went up across the street. It's a bit of a chicken/egg scenario here - that stretch of 37th doesn't have enough density to make streetfront viable but this building will add residents that should help the viablility of future retail projects in the area.
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Zoning for retail is exactly what planners do. Much of it is forecasting future growth needs.

The ground floor can be mixed use. In Toronto and Vancouver, there can be one retail unit with the rest residential. That limits the risk on the developer building retail off a high street. Alternatively, live/work is highly adaptive as residential or commercial adjusting as the community changes.
 
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