Calgary Openings, Closings, and Developments - Page 5 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Bigtime · 02-25-2021, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mull

Anyone have a handy link to a City bylaw on this?

I have the shadow bylaw below, but have never seen the air rights one (or the bylaw saying parcels can trade/sell rights)

Yeah I'm not sure on this air rights thing either. We may not actually have air rights per se but in this scenario Oxford gifted the property to the Y in exchange for that height limit to protect their interests directly south. So it may read as a density transfer versus air rights.

Needs our planning policy wonks to weigh in on this for us.

timun · 02-25-2021, 10:55 PM

Oxford's 'gift' of the land to the Y came with the trade-off from the City that the other nearby parcels were allowed increased floor area ratios over the baseline zoning. It was in effect a density transfer, not "air rights".

timun · 02-25-2021, 11:09 PM

I should also add, the way the current direct control zoning is written, the plot the Y is on can only be used for the Y. In general the parcels around it are allowed to build residential of any type, subject to some height and density limitations and to contributing to meeting an overall minimum number of dwelling units in the area (1250), but there are no provisions in the bylaw for allowing the construction of anything other than the Y on the parcel it occupies. In the bylaw it is called the "Special Site", and there is no allowable units per acre, FAR or building height. It is essentially carved out as its own little slice of land completely and utterly dedicated to the YMCA as it sits now.

See https://www.calgary.ca/content/dam/w...08/2008d91.pdf

bizaro86 · 02-26-2021, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timun

Oxford's 'gift' of the land to the Y came with the trade-off from the City that the other nearby parcels were allowed increased floor area ratios over the baseline zoning. It was in effect a density transfer, not "air rights".

That is what "air rights" are though. The biggest market for them in is in New York City, where developers can sell some of their available FAR to adjacent landowners so they can build larger.

It's just another way of saying the same thing.

timun · 02-26-2021, 08:04 PM

I've only ever heard the term used where the structure from one property quite literally overhangs another, encroaching into the airspace above it. The FAR is 'transferred' to the structure built from the one parcel, but it still "makes use" of that FAR within the confines of that other parcel, just overhead. The only examples I can think of in Calgary where it even comes into play are the City Centre and Palliser Parkades along the CPR line, and maybe the Hollinsworth Building at the corner of 2nd St & 8th Ave SW (where the CIBC is in the Bankers Hall complex).

In the case of the Eau Claire Y Oxford did not retain any rights to build over top the Y building.

Fuzz · 02-26-2021, 09:12 PM

Didn't The Bow also borrow FAR from the building they removed for the parkade and promised to rebuild but never did, because reasons?

timun · 02-26-2021, 09:55 PM

They got several 'bonuses' from the City in exchange for 'saving' the old York Hotel façade and incorporating it into a new 'cultural' building. The chief of which I remember being that they were allowed to build far more parking than what would have been otherwise, being allowed to cross underneath 6th Avenue.

In the end they never did build the other building, because "@#$% you", I guess. Supposedly the brick façade of the old hotel is still being kept in some warehouse somewhere.

Hack&Lube · 03-03-2021, 11:31 AM

More Eau Claire shenanigans happening.

The city is not renewing the lease of the Eau Claire Breakfast cafe after 40 years. The plan is to move the entire building to a new location as part of the plaza redevelopment and flood mitigation but it sounds like the current tenants are not getting it back.

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/blindside...ness-1.5331329

Cross-posting some images from Skyrise that show the new location of the building. They also note in item 6 that this is a "front porch for the YMCA to support exterior programming activities for the facility" which is a facepalm now that it is closing.

Bill Bumface · 03-03-2021, 11:55 AM

Ugh, that's really too bad. My wife encountered the guy that runs the cafe through her work, and he's a great guy.

WhiteTiger · 03-03-2021, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

More Eau Claire shenanigans happening.

The city is not renewing the lease of the Eau Claire Breakfast cafe after 40 years. The plan is to move the entire building to a new location as part of the plaza redevelopment and flood mitigation but it sounds like the current tenants are not getting it back.

Given how they've been acting and what they've been saying and how they've been misrepresenting the entire situation to make the City look as bad as possible, I'd not want them back as tenants, either.

Bill Bumface · 03-03-2021, 12:06 PM

Maybe my wife was wrong haha. I also noticed it's a different owner quoted in the articles, so maybe it's tough to say.

KTrain · 03-03-2021, 03:39 PM

I-Hate-Hulse · 03-15-2021, 04:29 PM

Saw this in the news about the Northland Walmart:

Quote:

The Northland Walmart in the northwest is one of two stores in Canada slated to be converted into a supercentre with expanded grocery offerings. A timeline for the conversion has not been released.

I thought this bit of news would be worth sticking in this thread as that Walmart is pretty much the old Woolco with some lipstick on it. Next to the North Hill Sears (now a Showroom Furniture) it's a good time machine back to the 80's.....

No timeline given for this conversion though. Probably contingent on the Deerfoot City wannabe redevelopment plans for that area happening.

calgarygeologist · 03-15-2021, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Saw this in the news about the Northland Walmart:

I thought this bit of news would be worth sticking in this thread as that Walmart is pretty much the old Woolco with some lipstick on it. Next to the North Hill Sears (now a Showroom Furniture) it's a good time machine back to the 80's.....

No timeline given for this conversion though. Probably contingent on the Deerfoot City wannabe redevelopment plans for that area happening.

Nice. I rarely go to Walmart but the Northland one is the closest to my house and it is a dump. I try to go Rocky Ridge or Sage Hill as those ones are decent.

bob-loblaw · 03-15-2021, 06:53 PM

Walmart is closing the one in Deer Valley, which used to be a Zellers. I can't believe it's taken this long to close it.

I wonder when they'll open one by the new Costco in the SW. I think the closest Walmart in the area is the McLeod-Southland one.

jayswin · 03-15-2021, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob-loblaw

Walmart is closing the one in Deer Valley, which used to be a Zellers. I can't believe it's taken this long to close it.

I wonder when they'll open one by the new Costco in the SW. I think the closest Walmart in the area is the McLeod-Southland one.

I doubt Walmart would go to Tsuut'ina. the Southland, Mcleod location services everyone up to Canyon Meadows/Haysboro/southland just fine. While most of the residents in the Evergreen/Shawnessy/Somerset area are pretty close to the Shawnessy Walmart.

I mean, there's definitely lots of residents that would go there, but that's not Walmart's general location strategy. They want critical mass.

Hack&Lube · 03-15-2021, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob-loblaw

Walmart is closing the one in Deer Valley, which used to be a Zellers. I can't believe it's taken this long to close it.

I wonder when they'll open one by the new Costco in the SW. I think the closest Walmart in the area is the McLeod-Southland one.

That's too bad but makes sense as that Walmart is such a quiet outlier, like a community store that is hidden and out of the way. I've enjoyed going to that one a lot (as much as one can enjoy going to a Walmart)

Hack&Lube · 03-15-2021, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Nice. I rarely go to Walmart but the Northland one is the closest to my house and it is a dump. I try to go Rocky Ridge or Sage Hill as those ones are decent.

Did the McDonalds ever re-open since Covid? I can't believe that inside McD has been the exact same since 1993. I should go revisit my childhood Woolco one last time.

jayswin · 03-15-2021, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

That's too bad but makes sense as that Walmart is such a quiet outlier, like a community store that is hidden and out of the way. I've enjoyed going to that one a lot (as much as one can enjoy going to a Walmart)

No self checkouts was a killer on busy days. Enough for me to avoid it in favour of other ones near by.

bob-loblaw · 03-15-2021, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayswin

I doubt Walmart would go to Tsuut'ina. the Southland, Mcleod location services everyone up to Canyon Meadows/Haysboro/southland just fine. While most of the residents in the Evergreen/Shawnessy/Somerset area are pretty close to the Shawnessy Walmart.

I mean, there's definitely lots of residents that would go there, but that's not Walmart's general location strategy. They want critical mass.

I thought perhaps they'd open one in Tsuut'ina because the closest one for people north of Glenmore and west of Sarcee is the Westbrook one AFAIK.