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outoftheice said:
The sad thing is that giant patch of grass is actually private land slated for redevelopment. The City of Calgary has signed a short term lease to turn it into green space to add to the park however they refuse to try to purchase the land to make it a permanent addition. I know it's a bit ironic complaining about this on a forum dedicated to skyscrapers however given the lack of quality park spaces downtown, I think it's tragic the City of Calgary can't be bothered to make this a permanent green space.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1371883680394747908
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The owner of that site (years ago) actually wanted to do a land swap with the City, freeing up that corner of the park and moving the development site to 8th Ave adjacent to the Nexen building. The City dragged their feet on the deal to the point that it fell apart and the developer was forced to proceed with the NW corner site.
 
YYCguy said:
I imagine the city doesn’t want a fight on its hands with users if they turned it into something more than just a boring patch of grass. If it’s developed with sport courts and/or pathways and ponds similar to what’s been suggested here and actually looks like something people would be excited about and actually use, it won’t be pleasant when the city has to tell them to screw off if and when building construction ever does begin. That said, personally, I would love a park that’s developed as has been suggested here in that location!
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presumably the property owners can see two steps ahead and would never agree to the city installing anything other than boring grass, else you are just creating a constituency of ticked off tennis/basketball players protesting your DP that destroyed their favourite court. People have short memories and would never remember the earlier generosity.
 
YYCguy said:
I imagine the city doesn’t want a fight on its hands with users if they turned it into something more than just a boring patch of grass. If it’s developed with sport courts and/or pathways and ponds similar to what’s been suggested here and actually looks like something people would be excited about and actually use, it won’t be pleasant when the city has to tell them to screw off if and when building construction ever does begin. That said, personally, I would love a park that’s developed as has been suggested here in that location!
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It would be a great site for condo building with a restaurant overlooking the park.

Given the vacant state of the former Nexen building, I can't see anything being built on this site for a very long time.
 
With all the amenity space, could be a good UArts campus. If the current floor heights are 9 feet or 10, residential might be possible for the tower. Need to settle the litigation first, then have a fair valuation.

In the end though, a single tower with that much space if the carrying costs are low enough, it might be worth sitting empty for 5, 10 years.
 
In order for their to be organic growth downtown, there needs to be some kind of grade school in the core. Gulf Canada I believe is the best building for that. Majority of the tenants in Gulf Square are health care and/or associated with AHS. I dont know the exact demographics, but it has to be getting close for there to be enough students to be able to sustain a school. Probably several years away, but this planning should be considered soon. Land value is probably to high for it to be a school, but where would CBD grade kids go to school?
 
Travisty said:
In order for their to be organic growth downtown, there needs to be some kind of grade school in the core. Gulf Canada I believe is the best building for that. Majority of the tenants in Gulf Square are health care and/or associated with AHS. I dont know the exact demographics, but it has to be getting close for there to be enough students to be able to sustain a school. Probably several years away, but this planning should be considered soon. Land value is probably to high for it to be a school, but where would CBD grade kids go to school?
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As of the last federal census, the greater downtown/beltline area (including the downtown, East and West Villages, Chinatown, Eau Claire, Beltline, Mission, Cliff Bungalow, Lower Mt Royal and upper Mt Royal to 26th Ave) had almost 50,000 people and only 2780 people aged 0-14. For contrast, New Brighton has 1/4 the total population, but 3310 people aged 0-14.

There are two elementary schools (Connaught at 12th Ave/11th St; St. Monica at 1st/18th Ave), two Jr. highs (Mount Royal at 14th St/19th Ave, also St. Monica) and two high schools (Western Canada, St Mary's) in this area. (New Brighton also has both public and Catholic elementary and Jr Highs; the high schools are further away.)

If there was to be a future school in the core, an elementary at the CBE site in the East Village makes the most sense to me, since there's already a public elementary on the western side (as well as one in Sunnyside across the Peace Bridge); Langevin in Bridgeland is a science magnet school. That would enable the school to use the park across the street as de facto green space, which is key.
 
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