Neighbourhood looks to add amenities for future residents
Calgary Municipal Land Corporation is seeking a development partner with a proven track record in “urban-format” retail to complement the overall vision for the East Village neighbourhood.
Michael Brown, president and chief executive of CMLC, said a request for proposals ends Friday and the organization is hoping to identify by this fall a partner who will develop what is known as Block 39 between 3rd and 4th Streets S.E. and 6th and 7th Avenues. The block currently houses the police parkade and some small buildings.
“We’ve gone to the market soliciting proposals to develop that block,” said Brown.
Last year, CMLC worked with commercial real estate firm Colliers International, which identified an opportunity for what is described as urban format and village format retailers. The retail concept is for about 300,000 square feet in the urban format with bigger retailers in Block 39 and for an additional 100,000 square feet of smaller retailers in the village format, which would be located throughout the entire East Village neighbourhood.
“If you look at the vision for East Village and really East Downtown, it’s to create a community that not only has places for people to live but also provides for the amenities that they need to lead their lives,” said Brown, of the 49-acre, master-planned, urban village just east of the downtown core.
He said the research identified three key retail sectors for that one block — grocery, general merchandise and home improvement.
“Retail always follows the rooftops and that age-old process is well underway in the East Village with high levels of interest from commercial tenants,” said Michael Kehoe, an Alberta-based retail specialist with Fairfield Commercial Real Estate Inc. “As the condo towers emerge in the East Village, amenity retailers and food service tenants such as cafes and restaurants will soon follow.
“The centrepiece of the East Village retail component will likely be an urban market as a grocery store will be a critical element to the success of the overall redevelopment project. It is a good sign that there is strong demand for commercial space in the East Village as the retail and food service at ground level will ensure a vibrant and viable neighbourhood.”
By 2025, the East Village neighbourhood is expected to be home to more than 11,000 people.
Brown said the neighbourhood has already attracted more than $725 million of planned private investment and interest remains high in the project.
“There’s much more investment that needs to be worked on to fully execute the plan,” he said.
The investments include projects like RiverWalk, the St. Patrick’s Island redevelopment, the National Music Centre, a new Central Library, the East Village Hilton Hotel and two residential condo towers by Embassy Bosa Inc. and FRAM+SLOKKER.
Possible uses for two long-standing buildings in the East Village are still being ironed out. Brown said the 17,394-square-foot Simmons Building would be a great retail opportunity.
“We’ve been working really hard with the market in terms of getting the right use in there. We’re currently working through a series of (Expressions of Interest) to the point where I’m pretty comfortable that we’ll be able to announce the future of the building in the fall of this year,” he said.
CMLC holds its annual general meeting Friday.
Incoming board member Larry Clausen, vice-president and managing partner of Cohn & Wolfe/West, said East Village has been a community that has been well-planned.
“It’s been driven by a lot of good thinking,” he said, adding it’s a perfect example of a style of development of growing “up” a city rather than growing “out” a city.
“This is an inner-city community that will add density. It will add vitality to our core and it’s the extreme model of what others could look at to use for future development,” said Clausen.
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