'Don't screw it up,' mayor tells developer re-doing busy central Calgary corner

A developer that owns several dozen properties along 17th Avenue S.W. has been granted permission to build condos on one of Calgary's busiest corners.

Arlington Street Investment purchased the corner, along with about 40 other buildings along the busy main drag as part of a plan to change the face of the street.

Calgary city council approved a request from B&A Planning Group, acting for Arlington, to re-designate the site to allow for a mixed-use, highrise development.

"This is an important site. Don't screw it up," Mayor Naheed Nenshi told the company. "Let's not repeat the mistakes of the past."

Kathy Oberg, B&A's managing partner, responded: "understood."

This site is at a busy corner that acts as a gateway in and out of the inner city, connecting the communities of Sunalta, Beltline, Lower Mount Royal and Bankview, as well as Scarboro.

Both 17th Avenue and 14th Street S.W. are hubs for restaurants and local businesses.

The development, which has yet to be sent for approval, would take up nearly ¾ of the block at roughly 62,000 square feet, and possibly include multiple residential towers with underground parking.

At the moment, the site consists of single-storey restaurants and shops, a parking lot and a three-story building known as the Condon Block.

Oberg called it "an epic consolidation of parcels."

That consolidation will require the demolition of the Condon Block, at 1609 14th Street S.W., which has been valued under the heritage inventory for its modern architectural style and association with its namesake.

Jimmie Condon, a prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist, earned a place in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame for his family's efforts running amateur sports programs for Calgary youth. He ran businesses out of the building, constructed in 1966, that had a distinctive curved, sky-blue roof, coloured as a nod to his Greek heritage.

"I'm sad to lose the Condon Building but that whole frontage has been allowed to deteriorate over time," Nenshi said.

In order to demolish it, the inventory rules state Arlington must pay $635,000 to either the Sunalta Community Investment Fund or the Heritage Incentive Reserve Fund, to help preserve other historical assets in the area.

The zoning designation passed with few questions. Coun. Druh Farrell requested more information about how traffic would be mitigated but she lauded the idea.

"I think it's great. I love it. It's super high quality," she said.

Any vehicles would be funnelled through 16th Avenue S.W., Oberg said, with no entry point on either 17th Avenue or 14th Street.

Only one letter from the public was submitted in opposition, which noted worries about how increased traffic on 16th would affect existing residents in the area. The Sunalta Community Association also submitted a letter, saying it was "not fundamentally opposed" to densification of the site.

It noted concerns about the potential height of a new building, the shadow it might cast and also about traffic.

"It is anticipated that the increased traffic will not only be terrible for motorists but will also have a negative impact on the quality of the pedestrian realm," the association wrote in its letter.

The mayor said he was setting the bar high for the developer, but said his questions about traffic were answered satisfactorily. The development should create a circular traffic pattern, he said, that should make vehicles move smoothly along both main drags.

"As long as the developer gets this right, and I think they will, we'll have the opportunity to create a real signature element for Calgary," Nenshi said. "It's all about enhancing and making this neighbourhood even better because it is really a jewel for the city."

Arlington has purchased roughly 40 buildings along 17th Avenue in hopes of increasing density and drawing new business to the area.

CEO Frank Lonardelli previously told CBC News he would develop over years, but had set his sights on designing a development for the Condon site by this spring.

"This has been years of work to get to today," Coun. Evan Woolley said. "And I'm really appreciative of it."