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  #1  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 3:21 PM
vinny28 vinny28 is offline
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Avenue West End Calgary



Pre sales have been going on for a month now.. has anyone taken a look at this condo? Thoughts?
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  #2  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 3:23 PM
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...and the location?
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  #3  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 3:26 PM
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^That looks like an older rendering. Looks like sales open to the public Nov 2nd:

http://www.avenuewestend.com/
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  #4  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 3:45 PM
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Looks great!
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  #5  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 3:47 PM
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Originally Posted by RicoLance21 View Post
...and the location?
Just slightly north of river west.. 5th ave 10th Street SW
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  #6  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 3:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spring2008 View Post
^That looks like an older rendering. Looks like sales open to the public Nov 2nd:

http://www.avenuewestend.com/
I think that's the current rendering. I drove past the sales centre the other day, and they had a pic of the rendering shown above.
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  #7  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 4:17 PM
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They claim that the immediate neighborhood has a "very urban character".....Are they adding any retail? There is nothing to do around the west end and there are only a couple crappy retail bays and parking lots. I suppose it has been improving a bit lately, but I would never choose to live right there at this point.
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  #8  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 4:29 PM
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Mewata Station is a decent little strip, but yeah, more retail is needed. That area has good potential.

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Originally Posted by kw5150 View Post
They claim that the immediate neighborhood has a "very urban character".....Are they adding any retail? There is nothing to do around the west end and there are only a couple crappy retail bays and parking lots. I suppose it has been improving a bit lately, but I would never choose to live right there at this point.
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  #9  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 5:17 PM
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There's a corner retail bay at 10th Street/ 5th on this project - adding to the little strip of retail along 10th.

I think of this area as more a high density blob served by the kensington retail area, than its own destination.

I think the build out of the lands between 8th and 9th and a few of the remaining lots will make this area feel a lot nicer.
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  #10  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 5:24 PM
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That will help liven up a bit, but I tend to agree with you in that, it's not going to be it's own destination area, when Kensington is just a short walk across the bridge.

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Originally Posted by Wooster View Post
There's a corner retail bay at 10th Street/ 5th on this project - adding to the little strip of retail along 10th.

I think of this area as more a high density blob served by the kensington retail area, than its own destination.

I think the build out of the lands between 8th and 9th and a few of the remaining lots will make this area feel a lot nicer.
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  #11  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 5:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kw5150 View Post
They claim that the immediate neighborhood has a "very urban character".....Are they adding any retail? There is nothing to do around the west end and there are only a couple crappy retail bays and parking lots. I suppose it has been improving a bit lately, but I would never choose to live right there at this point.
More development ought to help that.

Partly because of the building styles, partly because of the emergence of the west end out of nothingness, this area reminds me a bit of Van's Yaletown. Once the remainder of the parking lots become 30-storey condos and offices, I think we will see more retail and community fabric.
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  #12  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 5:28 PM
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The West End certainly has potential.
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  #13  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 10:30 PM
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Thanks, glad there is retail there. One or two more people on the street.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wooster View Post
There's a corner retail bay at 10th Street/ 5th on this project - adding to the little strip of retail along 10th.

I think of this area as more a high density blob served by the kensington retail area, than its own destination.

I think the build out of the lands between 8th and 9th and a few of the remaining lots will make this area feel a lot nicer.
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  #14  
Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 10:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RyLucky View Post
More development ought to help that.

Partly because of the building styles, partly because of the emergence of the west end out of nothingness, this area reminds me a bit of Van's Yaletown. Once the remainder of the parking lots become 30-storey condos and offices, I think we will see more retail and community fabric.
I think the other draws are too close, Beltline, Kensington. Some retail will develop for sure, but they aren't going to compete with Kensington a couple hundred metres away. I think Yaletown suffers from this as well, its has high density by low pedestrian traffic. That is all gobbled up by more active high streets nearby.
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Old Posted Oct 17, 2013, 10:57 PM
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It's tough to add new retail to that area when many of the existing retail bays in the area are sitting vacant or are under-leased.

The streetfront design of many of the ugly late 90s/early 2000s condos also leave much to be desired. Avenue isn't fantastic but it should be a solid addition to the area.
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  #16  
Old Posted Oct 18, 2013, 12:13 AM
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As long as the retail component of condo developments is essentially a sidewalk facing strip mall Subway franchises, sketchy nail salons and of course my favourite, stores selling mostly rhinestone encrusted iPhone cases is just about all you can reasonably expect.

I have a list in front of me of the urban site selection criteria for a UK retailer, I can only think of a single development in the city that would meet more than half of them.

Hint: It's Keynote
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  #17  
Old Posted Oct 18, 2013, 2:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Just Build It View Post
I think that's the current rendering. I drove past the sales centre the other day, and they had a pic of the rendering shown above.
You mean the one on on the website, right? Looks more modern than the old rendering the original poster used, with more white spandrel as well. Still a filler, but not bad for the weaker west-end.

I like how there seems to be more architectural variety and incorporating more variations in colors in Calgary compared to other cities in Canada. Van and T.O. have the best individual designs, but sometimes it seems like there are so many bland, similar looking blue and green glass towers. Pretty uninspiring.
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  #18  
Old Posted Oct 18, 2013, 7:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spring2008 View Post
You mean the one on on the website, right? Looks more modern than the old rendering the original poster used, with more white spandrel as well. Still a filler, but not bad for the weaker west-end.

I like how there seems to be more architectural variety and incorporating more variations in colors in Calgary compared to other cities in Canada. Van and T.O. have the best individual designs, but sometimes it seems like there are so many bland, similar looking blue and green glass towers. Pretty uninspiring.
The one on the website looks like a waterfront clone, the variety in Calgary has to do with age, towers of a similar age have similar looks (Waterfront, Avenue, etc.)
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  #19  
Old Posted Oct 18, 2013, 9:19 PM
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Originally Posted by artvandelay View Post
It's tough to add new retail to that area when many of the existing retail bays in the area are sitting vacant or are under-leased.

The streetfront design of many of the ugly late 90s/early 2000s condos also leave much to be desired. Avenue isn't fantastic but it should be a solid addition to the area.
The last time I was through the area (a few weeks back) all retail units on 6th Ave were occupied. I know there was a time when a number of them were vacant, but I imagine the rental rates and dropped and eventually it made enough sense for a few destination time companies to move-in (law firm).

To me, the inner-city retail market is far too fragmented - you have a few blocks with a few shops, then it disappears, then starts again. It's not convenient for people that want to walk and shop, which means fewer people are out on the streets and this hurts retailers that in turn aren't able to sell enough to cover their overhead.

I think Calgary could do with a significant increase in retail to make better connections with the fragmented small strips. If that happens, I think you would end up seeing a lot of the shops you see in places like Chinook and Market Mall want to have a street retail presence in the inner city.
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  #20  
Old Posted Oct 18, 2013, 9:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Policy Wonk View Post
As long as the retail component of condo developments is essentially a sidewalk facing strip mall Subway franchises, sketchy nail salons and of course my favourite, stores selling mostly rhinestone encrusted iPhone cases is just about all you can reasonably expect.

I have a list in front of me of the urban site selection criteria for a UK retailer, I can only think of a single development in the city that would meet more than half of them.

Hint: It's Keynote
You'd think the West end would have reached its saturation point for these types of businesses by now? Reminds me of that joke by Lewis Black about the Starbucks across the street from another Starbucks.
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