Calgary Condo Talk

[Spring2008]

Starts are up 66% year-over year too for multi-fam.

Condo apartment sales up 28% year over year

Growth due to available inventory and affordability

Condo Sales Sales in the Calgary condo apartment sector jumped 28% this quarter over last quarter. Condo inventory should also get better later this year as new construction projects are completed.

Condo apartments saw the strongest year over year sales gain in the first quarter of 2014 due to available inventory and affordability, says a report from the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB).

Sales in the apartment sector reached 1,062 after the first quarter, a 28% increase over the first quarter of 2013. New listings after the first quarter totalled 1,722, up 18% year over year and even though demand out-paced listing growth, inventory levels are similar to the previous year, said Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB’s chief economist. “Single-family sales at the end of the first quarter totalled 3,901 units, a 9.5% increase over the same period last year,” said Lurie.

“Meanwhile, the amount of new listings declined by nearly 5%. As sales growth outpaced the amount of new listings growth in the market, inventory levels dropped to just over 2,000 units.”

That equals almost a two-month supply of single-family homes on the MLS system, putting Calgary firmly into a sellers market.

Affordability and selection are driving buyers into apartment condominiums and townhomes, said CREB president Bill Kirk.

“The unadjusted single-family benchmark price totalled $490,600 in March, a 9.9% increase over the previous year and a monthly increase of 1.6%,” said Kirk.

“Condominium apartment and townhouse prices totalled a respective $287,200 and $313,100. The condominium apartment price recorded a year-over-year increase of 11.5%, the highest relative to the townhouse and single-family sector.

Despite strong price gains across all sectors, overall the condominium sector continues to record price levels below peak records.

“Nearly 50% of new listings in the apartment sector are priced in the range of $200,000 to $299,999, providing options for those looking for affordable product. However, there are far fewer options for those looking to spend less than $200,000. After the first quarter, apartment product priced below $200,000 has dropped from over 16% of the market last year to 6.4%.”

The condominium inventory situation should get better this year as new product comes on stream, said Lurie.

“Some easing of the supply pressure in the condominium market is expected as new construction projects are completed,” she said. “However, thanks to Calgary’s strong economy, it is expected that most new supply can be absorbed without risk of over-supply and condominium price correction.”

[Spring2008]

Originally Posted by waichuntull

6th and Tenth:
Was told that the developer asks buyers to sign an amendment to the sales and purchase agreement for 2 dates change, one from June 30, 2015 to June 30, 2016 and the other from June 30, 2015 to June 30, 2017.

Sounds about right, should take close to three years to complete if they start in June, which is a big if.

Wouldn't sweat it cause here's a list of other res towers that will likely start this year in the Beltline:

-Smith
-Wam on 10th
-Guardian South
-Karma
-Royal View East
-Union Square 2

Bosa Tower at Mt Royal Village and Park Point maybe towards the end of the year. Plus some commercial towers.

[floobie]

Hmmm. This thread exists. If I may, I'd like to do some brain-picking. If this is more "new condo development talk" and less "give me advice talk", maybe I'll start a new thread. Or some moderator can step in and do it for me.

Fair warning: I tend to babble a lot when asking for advice.

My girlfriend and I are sort of itching for our own place now. I've lived in the same house for my entire near 27 years of existence. Time to level up my adulthood a bit.

We've both been torturing ourselves looking through mls.ca and the like for a few years now, and we're finally entering a position, largely thanks to each other, to actually buy a place. And, we've both kind of narrowed in on a "benchmark" tower of sorts: Colors.

I love the floor plans. The square-footage isn't massive, but they prioritize what I want. Their "one bedroom plus den" plans are awesome. I've never seen the point of a big bedroom, so I'll happily use a den for that purpose. We're both fairly creative types (she's an illustrator, I enjoy music and photography) and want room for a sizeable desk for each of us. She needs desk space for big sheets of paper, I need space for a few guitars and a synthesizer. As far as I can tell, we could fit both of our desks and associated "stuff" in the actual bedroom. Also, the fact that I can quite literally see the building from my office is a huge plus.

We toured a few of the presentation centres for new developments over the last few weeks. And, while we saw some stuff we liked, we didn't really find much. The common themes were: Too long to move in, the suitable units in our price range are gone, and putting down a deposit that we could well lose isn't too appealing.

So, anything else we should be looking at? We'd prefer to make the move in late summer. 650-750 square feet with the right layout (ie. 1 bedroom plus den or a smaller 2 bedroom) would be ideal. One stall in a secured parking garage. Hard ceiling of $400k. We've certainly identified a few older buildings that check all of these boxes, but the condo fees seem to be considerably higher in everything I saw.

Another point I'd like to hear some thoughts on: My friend is renting a unit in Vantage Pointe right now, and, well, it seems to live up to its "Pointe" reputation. He's on the 13th floor and sleeping with ear plugs. It's been pretty noisy when I've been up there, both from outside, and from the hallway. People in various states of inebriation, trains, cars, sirens... all rather audible. I would certainly hope that higher quality developments don't suffer such problems to that extent. My experiences with sleeping in downtown Calgary are limited, but I've never had a problem with it in Vancouver.

Also, I'll take literally any other advice you can throw my way. I don't exactly take the decision of where I'm going to be living for the next 5-10 years, and where a good chunk of my money during that period will be going very lightly.

[lorenavedon]

Originally Posted by floobie

Another point I'd like to hear some thoughts on: My friend is renting a unit in Vantage Pointe right now, and, well, it seems to live up to its "Pointe" reputation. He's on the 13th floor and sleeping with ear plugs. It's been pretty noisy when I've been up there, both from outside, and from the hallway. People in various states of inebriation, trains, cars, sirens... all rather audible. I would certainly hope that higher quality developments don't suffer such problems to that extent. My experiences with sleeping in downtown Calgary are limited, but I've never had a problem with it in Vancouver.

Noise and neighbor annoyances will happen in any new development where the majority of units are rentals. For example, I would never buy a unit in Guardian 2 to live in. Why? Because %99 of the units sold in that building will end up being rentals purchased by overseas investors, uncared for, unkempt and with people not giving a crap about living in a "community". Owners of rentals or "investors" will never vote for repairs, special assessments and increase in condo fees. So your building will massively deteriorate over time, the "investor" will flip his unit and you'll be left living in a derelict building. By then, instead of being hit with small repairs, you'll be on the hook for something massive. Your best bet for a good place to call home is in a place with a low rental to owner ratio.

[Jimby]

Originally Posted by lorenavedon

Noise and neighbor annoyances will happen in any new development where the majority of units are rentals. For example, I would never buy a unit in Guardian 2 to live in. Why? Because %99 of the units sold in that building will end up being rentals purchased by overseas investors, uncared for, unkempt and with people not giving a crap about living in a "community". Owners of rentals or "investors" will never vote for repairs, special assessments and increase in condo fees. So your building will massively deteriorate over time, the "investor" will flip his unit and you'll be left living in a derelict building. By then, instead of being hit with small repairs, you'll be on the hook for something massive. Your best bet for a good place to call home is in a place with a low rental to owner ratio.

I really don't think that overseas investors are a force in the Calgary condo market. Investor-owners who don't live in their investment perhaps, but not overseas.
All condos except brand new ones have to have a 5 year Reserve Fund Study in place formulated by an accredited professional engineering firm and the Board is obligated by Alberta law to follow the recommendations of the RFS.
If a Board was found to be deliberately ignoring the maintenance, repairs, and financial contributions mandated by the RFS, they could be removed from office by the owners through an extraordinary general meeting.
My experience is that non resident investor owners are not willing to participate and even if they do, they can't do much to stop the RFS once it has been put in place.

In my building, renters are held to a higher standard than owners. The renters below me got a $1,500 fine for smoking pot and their landlord also received the same fine from the Condo Corp. Board so of course the landlord evicted his tenants so he wouldn't be put in that situation again.
There are mechanisms available to the Board through their condo by-laws to fine rule breakers.
Also resident owners can be more passive/aggressive and entitled and non-cooperative than any investor owner.
You can't say that all resident owners are wonderful people and all renters and investors are not so wonderful people.

[red_179]

Originally Posted by floobie

We've both been torturing ourselves looking through mls.ca and the like for a few years now, and we're finally entering a position, largely thanks to each other, to actually buy a place. And, we've both kind of narrowed in on a "benchmark" tower of sorts: Colors.

We toured a few of the presentation centres for new developments over the last few weeks. And, while we saw some stuff we liked, we didn't really find much. The common themes were: Too long to move in, the suitable units in our price range are gone, and putting down a deposit that we could well lose isn't too appealing.

So, anything else we should be looking at? We'd prefer to make the move in late summer. 650-750 square feet with the right layout (ie. 1 bedroom plus den or a smaller 2 bedroom) would be ideal. One stall in a secured parking garage. Hard ceiling of $400k. We've certainly identified a few older buildings that check all of these boxes, but the condo fees seem to be considerably higher in everything I saw.

If Colours is your benchmark, I've heard really good things about Keynote which is a similar option. I personally like the quality of the Qualex Landmark developments (Stella, Luna, Nova, and Calla) which are other ones that could meet your criteria.

It is pretty standard to see higher condo fees in older buildings, as more upkeep is required over the years. You have to be very vigilant in reviewing the finances and state of repair of the building for older developments, but often you can get more bang for your buck if you do your research.

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by Jimby

I really don't think that overseas investors are a force in the Calgary condo market. Investor-owners who don't live in their investment perhaps, but not overseas.

They exist but their influence is exaggerated.

If Colours is your benchmark, I've heard really good things about Keynote which is a similar option. I personally like the quality of the Qualex Landmark developments (Stella, Luna, Nova, and Calla) which are other ones that could meet your criteria.

Keynote is mostly okay, but they messed up a bit on the finer details. Lots of units were issued countertop humidifiers months after possession because of concerns over damage to the hardwood floors from the dry air.

[count0]

Originally Posted by floobie

Hmmm. This thread exists. If I may, I'd like to do some brain-picking. If this is more "new condo development talk" and less "give me advice talk", maybe I'll start a new thread. Or some moderator can step in and do it for me.

Fair warning: I tend to babble a lot when asking for advice.

My girlfriend and I are sort of itching for our own place now. I've lived in the same house for my entire near 27 years of existence. Time to level up my adulthood a bit.

We've both been torturing ourselves looking through mls.ca and the like for a few years now, and we're finally entering a position, largely thanks to each other, to actually buy a place. And, we've both kind of narrowed in on a "benchmark" tower of sorts: Colors.

I love the floor plans. The square-footage isn't massive, but they prioritize what I want. Their "one bedroom plus den" plans are awesome. I've never seen the point of a big bedroom, so I'll happily use a den for that purpose. We're both fairly creative types (she's an illustrator, I enjoy music and photography) and want room for a sizeable desk for each of us. She needs desk space for big sheets of paper, I need space for a few guitars and a synthesizer. As far as I can tell, we could fit both of our desks and associated "stuff" in the actual bedroom. Also, the fact that I can quite literally see the building from my office is a huge plus.

We toured a few of the presentation centres for new developments over the last few weeks. And, while we saw some stuff we liked, we didn't really find much. The common themes were: Too long to move in, the suitable units in our price range are gone, and putting down a deposit that we could well lose isn't too appealing.

So, anything else we should be looking at? We'd prefer to make the move in late summer. 650-750 square feet with the right layout (ie. 1 bedroom plus den or a smaller 2 bedroom) would be ideal. One stall in a secured parking garage. Hard ceiling of $400k. We've certainly identified a few older buildings that check all of these boxes, but the condo fees seem to be considerably higher in everything I saw.

Another point I'd like to hear some thoughts on: My friend is renting a unit in Vantage Pointe right now, and, well, it seems to live up to its "Pointe" reputation. He's on the 13th floor and sleeping with ear plugs. It's been pretty noisy when I've been up there, both from outside, and from the hallway. People in various states of inebriation, trains, cars, sirens... all rather audible. I would certainly hope that higher quality developments don't suffer such problems to that extent. My experiences with sleeping in downtown Calgary are limited, but I've never had a problem with it in Vancouver.

Also, I'll take literally any other advice you can throw my way. I don't exactly take the decision of where I'm going to be living for the next 5-10 years, and where a good chunk of my money during that period will be going very lightly.

I have friends who live in Colors, they like it there a lot. Chocolate is also a comparable, it's like a mini Colors. Same developer, similar features, very close location wise. You might also consider one of the lofts, as it may be possible to pick one up for around 400k.

A note on condo fees. In newer buildings, Condo fees are artificially low. You can almost expect 20%+ increases in condo fees ever year for the first 5 years of the buildings life. Budget for at least double the condo fees you are paying initially.

[lorenavedon]

some of the listings in Colors right now are asking well over $600/sqft for a building with zero amenities and mediocre finishing built during the boom. Some people are on some seriously good crack right now

[Spring2008]

Marda Loop/Bankview the new hotspot:



https://twitter.com/ian_meredith

[Spring2008]

Might be the start of a new trend:

Multi-family starts balloon in Calgary area

New construction up 212% from a year ago

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald April 8, 2014 11:47 AM


Multi-family starts balloon in Calgary area

Housing starts in the Calgary region soared in March thanks to strong new construction in the multi-family market.
Photograph by: Gavin Young , Calgary Herald

CALGARY - An exceptionally strong month for new multi-family construction pushed overall housing starts in the Calgary region up by 87 per cent in March compared with last year.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Tuesday that total starts in the Calgary census metropolitan area rose to 1,667 units during the month from 890 in March 2013.

The multi-family sector saw starts rise by a whopping 212 per cent to 1,217 units from 390 a year ago but the single-detached sector saw a decline of 10 per cent to 450 units from 500 last year.

The CMHC said housing starts in the Calgary CMA were trending at 16,647 units in March compared with 14,978 in February. The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally-adjusted annual rates of total housing starts.

“We had a strong number of multi-family units break ground last month,” said Richard Cho, senior market analyst in Calgary for CMHC. “This was mainly due to the pronounced number of apartments that started construction, reaching its second highest level on record in March. Apartment inventories have come down, while demand for housing remains robust. This has contributed to the increase in new construction activity.

“Multi-family units have attracted a number of different buyers. With (rental) vacancy rates relatively low, many investors have looked to purchase multi-family units as investment properties. Multi-family units have also appealed to first-time homebuyers as these homes tend to have a lower price compared to a single-detached home.”

Robert Kavcic, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets, said Canadian housing starts unexpectedly fell sharply to 156,823 annualized units from 190,639 the month before.

“The steep decline in housing starts in March was at least partly weather related, but the bigger picture is an ongoing cooling of residential construction activity in Canada,” he said.

It was the second-lowest monthly reading for starts since the recession with January 2013 a touch lower, he added.

“Underperformance of the Canadian economy relative to the U.S and the likely gradual increase in interest rates through 2015 will take some of the momentum out of the demand for Canadian housing,” said Connor McDonald, economist with TD Economics. “We suspect that the pace of housing starts will gradually trek downward to the 165,000-175,000 unit range over the next two years.”

mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com

http://www.calgaryherald.com/busines...723/story.html

[Policy Wonk]

Here is a question, roughly when did ethernet wiring become fairly standard in condo construction?

Some friends of mine have been renting in a Y2K vintage building without it, they consider the fact their landlord recently tried to sell them their unit a sign that their lease probably isn't going to be renewed and they consider a unit not having it a deal breaker because the last two places they have lived both had severe wifi congestion.

And yes, they tried a 5Ghz router.

[floobie]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my incoherent rambling with coherent advice!

Chocolate: I'd heard that this building was having a few more problems than Colors. Any comments?

Renter/owner ratio: Definitely something I'll be accounting for. But, in terms of noise, am I correct in assuming that higher quality (and/or newer?) developments will have better sound proofing?

Condo fees: I'm certainly expecting them to rise if I buy into a newer building. But, is there anything I can look for to indicate that they might have stabilized? Colors has been around for, what, 5 years now? Should I expect the fees to keep going up for like the next 10/15 years?

I'm also trying to get a feel for the general state of the market. Right now, supply seems to be quite limited. I'm seeing listings come and go pretty quickly. Everyone is saying it's a seller's market right now. I'm guessing exercising a bit of patience would benefit me? Though, demand for condos, while on the rise (as other posts have suggested), still seems to be below that of detached homes. So, I'm kind of wondering if waiting too long might end up biting me in the ass... or should I really be waiting for the next recession if I really care?

I'm sure my insane inexperience is showing. Educate me!

[lorenavedon]

Originally Posted by floobie

Thanks to everyone who responded to my incoherent rambling with coherent advice!

Chocolate: I'd heard that this building was having a few more problems than Colors. Any comments?

Renter/owner ratio: Definitely something I'll be accounting for. But, in terms of noise, am I correct in assuming that higher quality (and/or newer?) developments will have better sound proofing?

Condo fees: I'm certainly expecting them to rise if I buy into a newer building. But, is there anything I can look for to indicate that they might have stabilized? Colors has been around for, what, 5 years now? Should I expect the fees to keep going up for like the next 10/15 years?

I'm also trying to get a feel for the general state of the market. Right now, supply seems to be quite limited. I'm seeing listings come and go pretty quickly. Everyone is saying it's a seller's market right now. I'm guessing exercising a bit of patience would benefit me? Though, demand for condos, while on the rise (as other posts have suggested), still seems to be below that of detached homes. So, I'm kind of wondering if waiting too long might end up biting me in the ass... or should I really be waiting for the next recession if I really care?

I'm sure my insane inexperience is showing. Educate me!

most old condos are condo conversions. Back in the day, condos were for poor people and middle class or wealthy lived in houses and thought the downtowns were for criminals and drug addicts. So most buildings are condo conversions. This is bad because originally, rental buildings have horrid sound proofing. Walls are paper thin. So sure, they buy up old rentals, renovate them, they look awesome, but it's gonna be hell with all the sounds and stuff that goes with an old building built for low income people.

Newer condos are like 10000x better in terms of soundproofing because modern rich urban yuppies demand that when they're paying 500k for an 800sqft box. So stick to the new stuff IMO. Of course, exceptions to every rule. There are good old buildings. Its just rare.

Also, condo fees will go up forever. Can't get around entropy. A home or condo is a depreciating asset like a car. The only thing of value is the space it's sitting on.

[sync]

Originally Posted by lorenavedon

thought the downtowns were for criminals and drug addicts.

haha you'd be surprised there are plenty of people who still think this is the case.

my wife works with a 27 year old female who, upon finding out that we live "downtown" asked her in all seriousness, "why, do you like getting drunk every night?"

my wife lacks my gift for sarcasm but i would have answered in the affirmative and added that we save the crack use for the weekends.

[floobie]

Originally Posted by lorenavedon

most old condos are condo conversions. Back in the day, condos were for poor people and middle class or wealthy lived in houses and thought the downtowns were for criminals and drug addicts. So most buildings are condo conversions. This is bad because originally, rental buildings have horrid sound proofing. Walls are paper thin. So sure, they buy up old rentals, renovate them, they look awesome, but it's gonna be hell with all the sounds and stuff that goes with an old building built for low income people.

Newer condos are like 10000x better in terms of soundproofing because modern rich urban yuppies demand that when they're paying 500k for an 800sqft box. So stick to the new stuff IMO. Of course, exceptions to every rule. There are good old buildings. Its just rare.

Also, condo fees will go up forever. Can't get around entropy. A home or condo is a depreciating asset like a car. The only thing of value is the space it's sitting on.

Huh, that explains a few listings I saw. Gorgeous units, ugly old building with a fancy, modern name/logo, and fairly cheap. The newer the better, then.

As for condo fees: I realize they'll always be going up, but there's a difference between going up at a rate of $200/year or $20/year.

[MalcolmTucker]

Yeah, buildings drag things down, but there are some old units with concrete between the units such as Rocky Mountain Court. The state of unrenovated units are shameful compared to my old Boardwalk rental however. The long hallways also really show the construction deficiencies of trying to level floors before laser levels (while keeping them affordable).

Old buildings too a lot can't accommodate laundry except for european ventless types.

[Spring2008]

This should help keep the amount of new condo construction going at a strong pace:

Grosvenor ranks Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary the world’s top cities for long-term real estate investment
Republish Reprint

Pamela Heaven | April 9, 2014 | Last Updated: Apr 9 3:16 PM ET
More from Pamela Heaven | @pamheaven
Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary were ranked the most resilient cities in the world.

Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary are the world’s top cities for long-term real estate investment, a report by Grosvenor’s research said this week.
North America’s top 20 housing markets

Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary among most expensive on continent. Find out more

Grosvernor, an international property development company based in the U.K., ranks 50 of the world’s cities on their resilience, measured by their vulnerability and how well they can cope with adverse events.

“The investment of city leaders in infrastructure and its commitment to upgrading it over the decades has put Toronto at the top of Grosvenor’s list of the world’s most resilient cities,” said Richard Barkham, Grosvenor’s Group research director. “For investors in property and real estate, it makes Canada a very sound long-term investment.”
Related

More Canadian real estate being scooped up by foreign investors
What’s next for REITs in 2014?

The Canadian trio beat out all cities in the United States, with Chicago ranking fourth on the list.

The five least resilient cities were Dhaka, Jakarta, Cairo, Manila and Mumbai.

The centuries-old property company, whose study is being released at the Urban Land Institute’s Spring Meeting in Vancouver this week, takes a long view of real estate, not a quick return on investment.

“Investors with a long-term perspective, such as pension funds or sovereign wealth funds can deploy capital in these cities and be confident that if they take a knock they will bounce back in a relatively short term,” Barkman said of the study that was three years in the making. “These cities are safe havens in a rapidly changing global environment.”

The report said Canadian cities fared well as they are generally well governed, well planned and have good access to resources, including water and energy.

U.S. cities did not score particularly well in vulnerability categories, the report said, because social tension in some cities brought on by inequality, lack of investment in utilities and over-consumption of land due to urban sprawl.

http://business.financialpost.com/20..._lsa=71f9-bccc

[Spring2008]

This too:

Four Canadian cities to present opportunities for foreign property buyers Add to ...

TARA PERKINS - REAL ESTATE REPORTER

The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Apr. 10 2014, 5:00 AM EDT

Four Canadian cities are increasingly punching above their weight on the global stage, and are poised to attract more capital from foreign real estate investors, Jones Lang LaSalle says in a new report.


“A marked shift in international interest in Canadian cities will occur over the next five years,” its report predicts, singling out Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary.

The notion of a new wave of investment in commercial properties is troubling to some Canadian real estate players who are concerned that valuations here are already lofty, and that an asset bubble could form if investors continue to bid up the price of properties.

The 10-year annualized total return from Canadian commercial real estate is 11.9 per cent, second only to South Africa, according to Investment Property Databank Ltd.

Those stellar returns have spurred investors to continue to pour money into the market, but so far most of that has come from Canadians.

As Jones Lang LaSalle points out, Canada has one of the lowest proportions of foreign capital invested in its real estate market in the world. The market is dominated by local pension funds, insurers and real estate investment trusts. Those Canadian players have had plenty of funds to invest, and have chosen to increase the proportion of their investment portfolios that is dedicated to real estate because of the strong returns. Their knowledge of the local markets has given them an edge over foreign players when it comes to winning key assets.

“This should not be interpreted as a lack of demand by foreign investors, many of whom remain keenly interested in the Canadian market, but merely a lack of success in transacting,” JLL says. “Compared to other countries with similar property markets and transparency attributes, such as Australia, Canada stands out as being one that foreign groups find particularly difficult to penetrate. For example, while inbound investment in Australia has regularly exceeded 30 per cent of total investment, only 10 per cent on average of all transactions in Canada since 2007 have involved foreign groups, with 2012 marking a low point of only one per cent.”

But Canadian real estate players have now begun turning their sights abroad, looking for new markets to grow in as Canadian properties have become more and more expensive. And many local players are worried that the market is near its peak.

JLL’s positive outlook for the four Canadian cities is based on a number of factors, including growing infrastructure spending, new efforts to bolster tourism by the Canadian Tourism Commission and strong urban strategies.

“We anticipate that over the next decade the ‘Quartet’ cities will firmly secure their places on the world stage with all four cities regularly featuring among the world’s top 30 real estate investment destinations,” the report says.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...ticle17906511/

[Spring2008]

Haven't seen this posted yet? Another one for SW

Currie Barracks redevelopment plans are being redrawn to be much more dense.

The federal agency overseeing the redevelopment of the former military base originally planned for 7,000 people to live in the mixed-use community.

Now the Canada Lands Company (CLC) envisions that 11,000 people will call the area home.

CLC's Doug Cassidy says it's a recognition the City of Calgary wants to boost densities and that inner-city land is highly valued.

Development still on the mind of Calgary's new council
Naheed Nenshi promises to tackle 'sprawl subsidy'

CLC will ask the city later this year to approve rezoning for the area.

“We've looked at increasing the density within the community from about 3,200 units to about 5,600 units, and with that have looked to really amplify the amount of open space and park space within the community to really support a wonderful liveable, walkable community," said Cassidy.
Increased density

Currie Barracks could soon look quite different to people passing by on Crowchild Trail.

Historic military buildings will stay, but Currie Barracks will transform into a high-density mixed-use community.
Currie Barracks residential

Right now about 7,000 people live in Currie Barracks. The Canada Land Company is planning for the area to have 11,000 people living there within the next five to 10 years. (Canada Land Company)

“What has happened is that we're able to infuse more and different uses in a more concentrated form of development that allows people to stay off the highways in Calgary — live, work, learn, play exactly where they might be,” said Rob Robinson, who is with the design firm working with CLC.

The area's city councillor, Brian Pincott, says he likes the new plan.

“The whole high-street concept, I think, is going to be a great addition too, not only for that development but for the area. when you look right across the street, you've got Mount Royal right across the street.”

Canada Lands wants to build a new interchange on Flanders Ave., crossing over Crowchild Trail.

The project is estimated to cost $28 million. Because the city doesn't have the funds to start the project soon, CLC will design and build the new interchange on its own. It will put up the first $20 million for the project and the city will repay later.

The interchange will open in 2017, about the same time as the first multi-family units and retail parts of the redevelopment enter use.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...iled-1.2604861