new development

Council OKs sale of part of 5th Street S.W. to developer…

Council has given final approval to a developer’s bid to buy a block of 5th Street S.W. in Eau Claire as part of its six-tower residential project on the two blocks straddling that quiet road.
The site owner plans to keep the roadway between 2nd Avenue and Eau Claire Avenue as a publicly accessible road, but give it a curvy redesign that complements its massive project and is more pedestrian-friendly than other blocks, planners have told council.
“They had a much higher quality of street in their mind than we would normally put in,” said Druh Farrell, councillor for Eau Claire.
It’s highly unusual for city hall to sell active public roadway to a private developer. The city will disclose terms of the roadway sale once it has closed, council records show. Farrell, who calls the sale “exceptional,” said the company will cover maintenance costs for the street.
The project will rise on two of the last remaining block-long surface parking lots in Eau Claire. Developer GWL Realty is planning 1,000 dwelling units in the towers, plus retail, including a proposed grocery store.
“It will finally complete a community that has been in transition for decades,” the councillor said.
 
By Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald September 9, 2014