Stephen Avenue Quarter: Massive New Downtown Project Proposed
It definitely looks like downtown Calgary is back! Triovest has submitted a proposal to the City of Calgary for a mega downtown development in the heart of core - 100 West block of Stephen Avenue Walk and 7th Avenue SW. It is called “Stephen Avenue Quarter.”
Image how this block will look with the addition of a 66, 54 and 24 storey towers behind the facades of the heritage buildings and one of the buildings redeveloped to create a pedestrian entrance to an interior courtyard that will be in shade all of the time. That is what is being proposed to create Stephen Avenue Quarters.
While still in the circulation phase within the City of Calgary’s Planning department, the proposed development includes a massive 24-storey office podium, 54-storey rental residential tower, a 66-storey condo/hotel, a mid-block pedestrian link from 8th to 7th Avenue SW and the transformation of the alley between the avenues into a landscaped delivery road.
It is my understanding all the existing heritage buildings’ facades along Stephen Avenue will be retained, with the Hudson’s Bay building (est. 1890) at 102 - 8th Ave SW becoming the lobby of a new hotel, but the actually buildings will removed. The Thai Restaurant, aka Shoe Hospital Building (112 - 8th Ave SW) will be demolished to allow for the pedestrian link between the two Avenues. This is what happened on the 100 East block for the development of Hyatt Regency Hotel and convention centre expansion.
However, the Clarence Block’s facade will become a mid-block walkway to the new internal public space for the block. This will fundamentally change the historic design of Stephen Avenue as a Main Street consisting of contiguous pedestrian oriented commercial spaces.
The heritage buildings along 7th Avenue will be demolished to create a new streetscape for the new towers, with only the Central United Church being retained and is not part of the application. It is my understanding that, as part of the development permit the applicants are proposing demolition of the buildings on 7th Avenue (129, 121-125, 109-117 and 115 7 Avenue) with commemoration for these buildings .
Stephen Avenue Quarter will destroy the existing heritage character and charm of Stephen Avenue and the potential for a heritage block on 7th Avenue forever. I think the facades of the 7th Ave buildings should be incorporated into the new streetscape, retaining a series of smaller pedestrian oriented commercial spaces that will help create street vitality and support the new office, residential and hotel buildings.
Proposed elevations of the new towers and parkade. No proposed architectural design images were included in the proposal PDF on the City’s website. The North Residential tower will have 390 new homes, while the south will have 402 new homes and the hotel will have 176 rooms. The parkade as proposed would have 991 stalls. Remember these are proposed numbers and will change as the proposal is refined.
The total square footage of the project is 1,900,000 sf, including 750,000 square feet of useable office space which is the equivalent of one of the Bankers Hall towers.
(from City of Calgary website DP 2022-02927)
How “big a deal” is Stephen Avenue Quarter?
It is on par with the late 1970s TD Square project that transformed the 300 block of 8th and 7th Avenues into two major office towers (Dome Tower, 33 floors and Home Tower 32 floors), an indoor shopping mall (now part of the CORE) and Devonian Gardens (which originally had a small ice rink).
It is also similar in scale to the late ‘80s Bankers Hall project with its two office towers and retail galleria. While the first Bankers Hall tower and retail galleria were completed in 1989, the second tower wasn’t completed until 2000 due an economic downtown turn.
Conceptual image of the landscaped alley between 7th and 8th avenues, with pedestrian link. (from City of Calgary website DP 2022-02927)
Note the Clarence Block (formerly McNally Bookstore and Sportchek) will be removed (elements of the facade will remain) to create a mid-block walkway to the internal public space for the block). This will fundamentally change the historic design and character of Stephen Avenue. (from City of Calgary website DP 2022-02927)
Downtown core needs more residents
In hindsight, it would have probably been best for downtown vitality today if in each of these projects one tower would have been office and the other residential. The same would be true for many of the other downtown two office tower projects built in the late 20thcentury. But at the time there was little market for urban living in Calgary. However times have changed, and while the market for downtown living limited, it is growing as evidenced by the number of successful new residential projects in and around the downtown core over the past decade.
The addition of residential development on Stephen Avenue and the 7th Avenue Transit Corridor is critical to downtown’s revitalization, as it will help create evening and weekend activity when the office workers have gone home. Residents are much more likely to take ownership of the Avenues’ wellbeing than office workers, as the streets will become their backyard, their urban playground, or as some urbanists like to say, “their living room.”
Residents will hopefully become strong advocates for a safer downtown, as well as support commercial and cultural development in the downtown.
Facades of heritage buildings to be retained, similar to what happened on the 100 East block of Stephen Avenue when the Convention Centre and Hyatt Regency Hotel was built. (from City of Calgary website DP 2022-02927)
Who is Triovest?
Triovest is a major Canadian developer whose head office is in Toronto but has strong ties to Calgary. Triovest was formed in 2012 when Coril Group (part of the Mannix family holdings) acquired Tonko Reality Advisors Ltd and Redcliff Reality Corp and merged the western and eastern Canadian companies to form Triovest Realty Advisors. Of note too, the Mannix family built the Hyatt Regency Hotel, just east of the proposed Stephen Avenue Quarter.
Last Word
Stephen Avenue Quarter will be a phased project, likely taking 15+ years to complete. And while it is a very exciting and ambitious project, it will mean major disruptions for pedestrians, transit users and drivers during the many years of construction. Especially so when you combine it with major nearby construction projects at The Glenbow, Arts Commons and Green Line .
Tall towers are not ideal for creating a great downtown experience as they dwarf pedestrians, can cause wind tunnels and create shadowing issues especial in the winter. Mega projects don’t have a great track record in Calgary for create street vitality. In fact they are often devoid of any street animation.
For Stephen Avenue Quarter to be successful, they will have to incorporate dozens of small spaces for cafes, boutiques and restaurants along both Stephen Avenue and 7th Avenue. And the spaces will have to be affordable for local small businesses and not geared to chain stores, as nobody is going to come downtown to shop or dine at the same places they have in the suburbs.
It will be interesting to see what kind of community engagement will be conducted as part of the approval of this project and how that will result in changes to the developer’s plans.
Related Blogs:
Urban living is in its infancy Calgary (2014)
Downtown living is cooler than you think! (2018)