Life of luxury
Sustainable features in high-end project in Eau Claire area
Kathy McCormick, Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, April 19, 2008
Solaire, a luxury tower that will shine a light on sustainable design principles in downtown Calgary's west end, will add another dimension to the "urbanization of Calgary," says a company involved in the project.
"A lot more people are living in the downtown core today," says Chris Norton of the Vancouver-based Maverick Real Estate Corp. "The urbanization is already happening -- and LaCaille plays a big role in that."
Solaire is the latest project by the LaCaille Group, which began the process with the LaCaille on the Bow restaurant. It became a developer when it built a luxury tower attached to the restaurant.
Since then, it has constructed, or plans to build, several other towers in the inner-city communities, and it is expanding to other areas of Calgary.
Besides luxurious, high-end standards, plans for Solaire include such eco-friendly aspects as green roofs on the lower roofs of the building, says Gary Mundy, an associate with GEC Architecture.
The roofs will have soil planted with natural grasses, he says.
Two points on the east facing wall will also be "living walls," says Mundy. "A very light wire mesh will be placed on top of the exterior at grade and on the third floor of the building facing east, then vines will be planted to grow up the walls. That helps keep water hitting the building from running directly into the storm drains. It's a way to address stormwater management."
Inside the buildings, each unit will be equipped with heat recovery ventilators, reducing energy needed for cooling and heating individual suites by as much as 35 per cent. Low-flow plumbing fixtures will also be used.
The building, itself, will have ample bicycle storage in place to encourage less use of vehicles. "In addition, the building is just a five minute walk from trains and buses," says Mundy.
Norton likens the Eau Claire area to Vancouver's Coal Harbour.
"The Beltline is like Yaletown in Vancouver, with another seven to 10 years before all the sites are built out," he says.
"The Eau Claire area will be much faster, with a significant number of residential units planned or being built, such as the redevelopment of Eau Claire Market, the next phase of the Princeton, and others along the waterfront -- and retail and restaurants are included in that."
Eau Claire is a small area in the heart of downtown.
It's bounded by 10th Street S.W. to the west, 2nd Street S.W. to the east, 3rd Avenue to the south and the Bow River to the north. Development has been high-end, luxury condos with river views.
"The whole area is already being developed from Louise Bridge (at 10th Street) to Eau Claire," says Norton. "It's established, it's within walking distance of the social scene and downtown office space, and it's near the water."
That, alone, has been one of the top reasons the latest condo project to grace the area's west end has already garnered so much interest, says Norton.
Anyone interested should register at
www.solaireliving.ca soon to get on the priority list before sales start.
"We have an interesting mix of potential buyers, from young professionals from (ages) 25 to 35 who want to be close to the downtown core for work and the nightlife, as well as Kensington, to empty nesters who want to relocate closer to the city centre in an area that's being re-developed, to business people who are buying to use it as a pied-a-terre."
A pied-a-terre is lodging for occasional or secondary use.
Solaire will be located at 4th Avenue and 8th Street S.W., and it's already under construction.
The 22-storey tower will have 132 suites, with one- and two-bedroom plans, including four two-bedroom, two-level penthouses -- and of course, because of the location, outstanding views.
One-bedroom units are 711 to 765 square feet, two-bedroom models are 1,143 square feet, and the penthouses are 2,012 to 2,105 square feet.
"These are the highest level of specifications we've ever done," says La Caille president Peter Livaditis. "The outside will be very sleek and contemporary, and inside, standards will include such things as hardwood floors, finishings like granite countertops, and high-end appliances by Dacor."
Dacor is a stylish California brand that is usually found only in high-end, single-family homes.
Such attention to detail is a hallmark of the LaCaille Group -- and that's another reason people have been so receptive to the latest project, says Norton.
"When people heard another LaCaille building was under construction, it generated a lot of interest," he says.
"They've built a number of sophisticated buildings in the west Eau Claire area, so a number of investors have come on board. As well, the company has an unusual amount of loyalty and following from people who have bought in the past."
Sales will start once the sales centre opens in another LaCaille project, Five West, at 924 5 Ave. S.W. Scheduled to open later this spring, hours will be noon to 5 p.m. every day except Fridays.
The project is unique in other ways, says LaCaille vice-president Al Schmidt.
"We're building an affordable housing project next door under contract with Calgary Housing Co," he says. "It's important to establish a new benchmark for affordable housing in the city to give people living there a sense of pride."
The building, to be known as Louise Station, will have 88 units in it and it will be built to complement the exterior of Solaire. It, too, is already under construction.
"It shouldn't be any different," says Livaditis, adding that diversity of housing is what makes a neighbourhood.
Norton agrees: "That's what adds a sense of neighbourhood. Nobody wants it to become a gated community. The diversity is part of the vibrancy of a community."
The project marks "a nice transition for people to move out of social housing to market," says Schmidt.
Solaire has another unique feature. A much-needed fire hall and EMS station will be tucked under the tower.
"It will be synchronized to traffic lights, so the vehicles won't need to use sirens until they're well away from the building," says Schmidt. "They'll use their lights only. As well, residential units don't start until the fourth floor, and there will be soundproof glass on bedroom windows" as an acoustical barrier, he says.
The proximity of fire trucks means insurance premiums for units should be lower as well, says Norton.
In Short:
BUILDER/DEVELOPER: LaCaille Group.
PROJECT: Solaire, on the corner of 4th Avenue and 8th Street S.W. It will consist of a 22-storey tower with one- and two-bedroom units, as well as four penthouses. The mixed-use development will have homes starting on the fourth floor. The first floor will include a fire hall and EMS station. Next door to the project, LaCaille is developing Louise Station, an 88-unit affordable housing project to complement the tower.
PRICES: Have yet to be released.
INFORMATION: Check the website at
www.lacaille.ca. Register at
www.solaireliving.ca. A sales centre will open later this spring on the site of another LaCaille project, Five West, at 924 5 Ave. S.W. in the near future.
HOURS: Once open, the sales centre hours will be noon to 5 p.m. daily except Fridays.
© The Calgary Herald 2008
Bold actions needed for sustainable growth
Calgary initiative must join regional planning efforts
Jim Dewald and Bev Sandalack, For the Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, April 19, 2008
Our recent series of articles focused on the inherent opportunities available to land developers who embrace the City of Calgary's Plan It initiative.
Plan It is a comprehensive study of Calgary's future, aimed at finding ways to minimize our city's ecological footprint, while maximizing the vitality and social attributes of living in a cosmopolitan centre.
While we had many thoughts for developers, we would be remiss if we didn't mention two critical actions that need to be taken by the City of Calgary political and administrative leaders.
Without the proper support from within and throughout city hall, Plan It runs the real risk of being another pretty book on a shelf.
The first priority is a total commitment, at all levels of city hall, to exploring and adopting more sustainable patterns of growth -- sustainability when measured on the basis of social, ecological, and fiscal impact.
Unfortunately, we hear all too often that developers receive support from one corner, but resistance in others fiefdoms within city hall.
The first supporters of higher density mixed-use patterns of growth were the city planners (although there are some hold-outs even within this group).
City planners have over the past few years successfully educated the majority of aldermen, but even though the politicians are onside, resistance in other departments continues to severely undermine some tremendously positive initiatives.
Our research indicates that the primary culprits are roads and parks staff.
For whatever reason, they seem to have power to argue that "the way we've always done it" takes precedence over specific council directives (side-note; if that is how it was "always" done, how did the inner-city neighbourhoods achieve narrower streets, smaller curb radii, narrower lanes, street trees in boulevards, more trees in parks and so on?)
How can this nonsense be permitted? Why is it supported?
What can be done to reverse the trend of threats, whether it is arguments that the snowplows will damage the curb, the fire trucks can't make the corner, the garbage trucks are too large for the lanes, or the tractor-based lawn mowers can't work around trees and benches?
To build a great city, we desperately need an attitude of "we can do it" over "we're stuck and refuse to change."
Support of bold developer initiatives, including those in line with the objectives of Plan It, could be a very positive and inspiring shift for city staff.
But it would require more support, encouragement, incentives and direction than what currently occurs in the city.
Unfortunately, city hall has been famous for rewarding those who are the best at maintaining the status quo and who resist change over those who champion change.
It's time for a fresh new approach, and we would target senior administrators as being most responsible for ensuring that their teams are 100% on side.
The second priority is at a much different level --regional planning.
There is a very real danger that goals to achieve greater vitality and sustainability championed in Plan It will be threatened by surrounding municipalities if they continue to permit sprawl patterns of growth, transferring much of the downstream impacts (such as transportation needs) onto the shoulders of the region's primary employment districts, all of which are within Calgary's boundaries.
Recent stories in the Rocky View Weekly (the newspaper of the rural Municipal District of Rocky View) indicate that Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier had taken bold steps toward finding solutions for regional planning and utility servicing in early 2004.
Without pointing fingers, this important initiative did not come to fruition.
But it was a great start and we encourage continuation of these efforts.
This past week, the provincial government introduced the notion of once again formalizing regional planning, and Bronconnier has indicated his support.
Without more details, it is premature for us to throw our support behind this plan, but we certainly like the concept of returning to institutionalized regional planning.
Still, as a provincial initiative, one would expect to see more say given to rural municipalities than would be preferred by city hall.
This will demand full engagement of Bronconnier's collaborative leadership skills, and council's intestinal fortitude to support a collaborative regional approach that would recognize that we live, work and play within a regional context.
We will all suffer the economic, social and environment costs of another failure in establishing a regional planning framework.
We are long overdue for the Calgary region to follow a new paradigm in co-operation that recognizes the omnipresent nature of regional issues, and the desperate need for regional solutions.
Jim Dewald, PhD, is Assistant Professor, Strategy and Global Management at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, and a partner with Peters-Dewald Land Co.
Bev Sandalack, PhD, is co-ordinator of the Urban Design program in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, member of the Calgary Urban Design Review Panel, and co-author of The Calgary Project, a book about Calgary's urban development.
© The Calgary Herald 2008
Prev
This article is wrong. There were not 36,000 new renters here last year, that was the entire population increase in 2006, of which some of them were renters and some were babies and some were home owners and maybe some were homeless.
Linear Mode
