Agree on 9th as I said. There should have been a cycle track there from the beginning.

No doubt bicycles have increased on Stephen Ave, but I wouldn't hold much faith in estimates prior to the automatic counters that went in as part of the cycletrack implementation. The vast majority of all traffic counts in Calgary's history didn't bother counting pedestrians, let alone bicycles prior to about 2010. Just because bicycles and pedestrians weren't counted doesn't mean they aren't there.

Near misses are rarely reported or tracked, so it's all anecdotal - but I find it extremely hard to believe that 810 bicycles a day are a bigger issue in causing near-misses and pedestrian injuries than however many vehicles drive down Stephen daily. Take this data with a grain of salt, but the only two accidents I can find online in recent years on Stephen are car-vs-pedestrian.

I'm not sure how the lack of good counts before 2010 should be used to tar counts done in 2014, which I understand to be after 2010. In fact, they specifically did a very thorough job counting cyclists before the cycle track, as part of the data collection associated with the program. The count numbers I used (from the flow map) are September/October numbers, as is standard -- in the summer, bike volumes are 50% higher than Sept/Oct.

I think that there needs to be dedicated space made for cyclists on a parallel route (6th, or 9th or why not both); and that fast moving vehicles -- whather powered by pedals, engines or electric motors and venture capital financing -- should be kept off Stephen Avenue; there should be allowances made using both urban design and enforcement to permit vehicles when they're moving at an appropriate (slow) speed and when pedestrian volumes are lower.
 
Phil and Sebastian now open on the +15:
20210622_092807.jpg
 
The restaurant on the 40th floor, Major Tom, is now open. Thought this space would be a bit better as more of a trendy cocktail lounge but the menu looks descent enough to attract a different crowd than Concorde's offering at the top of the tower.

 
The portion of the building interacting with Stephen Avenue and 2nd street seems like a big improvement. In the end the retail tenant is what will make or break. Social Beer Haus seems like a good fit as well, I've been meaning to check it out.

Inside, however, the building completely lifeless. Just a way to get from Brookfield Place to the Core. Outside of Goro + Gun during lunch hour the place is empty. It's a bit of a microcosm of what's going on in downtown these days; buildings kick out a bunch of tenants to renovate the building, and replace them with a couple sterile tenants and a lot of "For Lease" signs.
 
 
Would be interested to learn what went sideways with this purchase and renovation. According to the FAQ from the web page linked in the tweet:

"As at September 15, 2023, the Debtors were indebted to Timbercreek in the amount of approximately $134.9 million."

and

"The Receiver is currently working to stabilize and optimize the operations of the Property. As such, the Property will continue to operate in the ordinary course, subject to the Order. Colliers Macaulay Nicolls Inc. is continuing to provide property management services at this time. There is no sale process contemplated for the Property at this time."

 
The long term future of the office market is dire which has caused office property values to implode and REITs like Slate to lose 50% of their value joining income which has been tepid in Calgary for years. Inability to raise funds to address higher interest rates did them in.

You'd only get pennies on the dollar selling this property right now which is why it isn't being contemplated.
 

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