The City of Calgary now officially owns the GSL land on the western outskirts of downtown leading to speculation on what it plans to do with its real estate holdings of more than 12 hectares in the area along Bow Trail.
A new home for the Calgary Flames and perhaps even the Calgary Stampeders? Or a development called West Village similar to the mixed-use project coming out of the ground in East Village now.
The area, bounded by the Bow River to the north and Crowchild Trail to the west, has huge potential development opportunities.
Jillian Henderson, spokeswoman for the City of Calgary, confirmed the city has purchased the more than four-hectare GSL land, at 1720 Bow Trail S.W., from General Supplies Co. Ltd. for about $36.9 million.
“The reason that this parcel was purchased was actually more of an opportunity acquisition,” said Henderson. “There’s the whole west downtown redevelopment piece that went to council and so we just saw that as an opportunity acquisition and it may be used for municipal use down the road or it may not but that’s really why the land was purchased.”
Among other parcels of land in the area, the city also owns the Greyhound site, which is nearly two hectares.
Ken King, president and chief executive of the Calgary Flames, said he could not make any comments about the site or future plans by the organization.
Richard White, an urban strategist with Ground3 Inc. Landscape Architects, said the potential for development in that area is huge.
“It’s on the west side. It’s got great exposure to the river. It’s got great exposure to the pathway and eventually to Edworthy Park,” said White. “It’s closer to both universities (Mount Royal University and the University of Calgary) which are just 10 minutes away. The access on that side. But it also comes with a lot of complications. The spaghetti network of roads … The infrastructure of roads and how important they are as commuter routes make it difficult to create a true village there.
“We all know the Flames have talked about how whether that’s a place for an arena and a football stadium which is what I’m hearing. They would actually do both. Potentially it’s an area for maybe a new convention centre. If you were really thinking big, do you move the Convention Centre and create what’s called a SHED which is a Sports, Hospitality, Entertainment District?”
He said the area could also make a “wonderful” residential district.
“They’re sitting there on the river, on an LRT station,” added White. “Any piece of land that’s close to downtown has great potential.”
Tom Dixon, manager of real estate, transportation and logistics with Calgary Economic Development, said every piece of development is in the context of the larger plan for the city and the existing structures.
“When you look at West Village, it’s in many ways a potential development that parallels in many respects East Village with Calgary’s intensive office core right in the middle,” he said. “The success in East Village with Calgary Municipal Land Corporation and the residential, mixed-used development that’s aggressively underway there suggests to me that that model can potentially be matched on the West Village lands.
“We’ve already seen in the downtown how effectively the core has expanded onto 10th Avenue. That’s a new corridor with office and mixed-use development. You can see them under construction. I think what that means is the geographic barriers that have traditionally defined the downtown seem to be changing. Nobody’s going to reroute the river but maybe the West Village could be another part of reshaping the downtown core.”
mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com
A new home for the Calgary Flames and perhaps even the Calgary Stampeders? Or a development called West Village similar to the mixed-use project coming out of the ground in East Village now.
The area, bounded by the Bow River to the north and Crowchild Trail to the west, has huge potential development opportunities.
Jillian Henderson, spokeswoman for the City of Calgary, confirmed the city has purchased the more than four-hectare GSL land, at 1720 Bow Trail S.W., from General Supplies Co. Ltd. for about $36.9 million.
“The reason that this parcel was purchased was actually more of an opportunity acquisition,” said Henderson. “There’s the whole west downtown redevelopment piece that went to council and so we just saw that as an opportunity acquisition and it may be used for municipal use down the road or it may not but that’s really why the land was purchased.”
Among other parcels of land in the area, the city also owns the Greyhound site, which is nearly two hectares.
Ken King, president and chief executive of the Calgary Flames, said he could not make any comments about the site or future plans by the organization.
Richard White, an urban strategist with Ground3 Inc. Landscape Architects, said the potential for development in that area is huge.
“It’s on the west side. It’s got great exposure to the river. It’s got great exposure to the pathway and eventually to Edworthy Park,” said White. “It’s closer to both universities (Mount Royal University and the University of Calgary) which are just 10 minutes away. The access on that side. But it also comes with a lot of complications. The spaghetti network of roads … The infrastructure of roads and how important they are as commuter routes make it difficult to create a true village there.
“We all know the Flames have talked about how whether that’s a place for an arena and a football stadium which is what I’m hearing. They would actually do both. Potentially it’s an area for maybe a new convention centre. If you were really thinking big, do you move the Convention Centre and create what’s called a SHED which is a Sports, Hospitality, Entertainment District?”
He said the area could also make a “wonderful” residential district.
“They’re sitting there on the river, on an LRT station,” added White. “Any piece of land that’s close to downtown has great potential.”
Tom Dixon, manager of real estate, transportation and logistics with Calgary Economic Development, said every piece of development is in the context of the larger plan for the city and the existing structures.
“When you look at West Village, it’s in many ways a potential development that parallels in many respects East Village with Calgary’s intensive office core right in the middle,” he said. “The success in East Village with Calgary Municipal Land Corporation and the residential, mixed-used development that’s aggressively underway there suggests to me that that model can potentially be matched on the West Village lands.
“We’ve already seen in the downtown how effectively the core has expanded onto 10th Avenue. That’s a new corridor with office and mixed-use development. You can see them under construction. I think what that means is the geographic barriers that have traditionally defined the downtown seem to be changing. Nobody’s going to reroute the river but maybe the West Village could be another part of reshaping the downtown core.”
mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com
