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Calgary is undergoing an urban renewal and there are many exciting building projects happening that are expected to breathe new life into the city. Over the past few years we have seen an increase in office buildings in downtown Calgary becoming vacant. But thankfully we are starting to see a number of Calgary’s vacant office buildings being reconfigured into condos and apartments. This article will take a look at some of the most exciting ongoing building developments currently underway throughout the city.
Telus Sky
The Telus Sky Tower is a mixed-use office, retail and residential tower that is currently under construction in the heart of downtown Calgary. The entire building is 761,235 square foot and will be the third tallest building in the city, behind Brookfield Place and The Bow. The Telus Sky tower will rise 60 storeys from the ground on the corner of 7 Avenue and Centre St SW and will be the thirteenth largest building in Canada. The tower will include 421,738 square feet of office space, of which 129,525 square feet will be used by Canadian telecommunications company, Telus.
Upon completion, Telus Sky will feature one of the largest public art fixtures in the country. The art installation was designed by artist Doug Coupland and will feature thousands of fully programmable LED light strips that will wrap around each of the building’s window frames or ‘pixels’. The art piece has been dubbed the ‘Northern Lights’ and is equipped with an infinite number of colours and combinations to display beautiful patterns and sequences.
Grey Eagle Resort and Casino
The Grey Eagle Resort and Casino, located on the beautiful Tsuu T’ina First Nation reserve, also underwent a redevelopment project that was completed this past spring. The expansion of the casino increased the size of the gaming area by 288 square meters, making the total size of the Grey Eagle Resort approximately 23,500 square meters. Andy Onespot, member of the Tsuu T’ina council and president of the Tsuut’ina Gaming Limited Partnership, says that the success of the resort has brought a lot of economic growth to the city and has created more jobs. The casino industry is bigger than ever and is helping to reshape Calgary’s business climate. It is anticipated that the online gaming market alone will be worth as much as $60 billion by 2020. While many people may prefer the flexibility and convenience offered to them by interactive online casino games, the huge success of Calgary’s very own Grey Eagle Resort and Casino just goes to show that traditional land-based casinos are still going strong. It looks like they won’t be going anywhere in the near future.
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Stadium Shopping Centre
Plans for the redevelopment of Stadium Shopping Centre in northwest Calgary have been in the works for years, and after many delays, it looks like the project will soon be underway. This new mixed-use urban oasis is said to be 815,000 square feet and will include five new buildings, ranging in height from one to fourteen stories. The site will include a hotel, medical centre, retail and office spaces, as well as other residential and recreational spaces. The plans for this redevelopment project also include a parkade below ground that will be able to accommodate over 1500 cars.
Site developer Western Securities plans to build the project in phases, instead of building it all at once. The company proposed to do the development in phases to allow for some businesses to remain open while construction is underway. Most of the businesses in the Stadium Shopping Centre have already closed shop and relocated. Western Securities says that they hope to begin construction on the first phase of the redevelopment project in the first quarter of 2020.
To sum up…
Calgary has seen a lot of major building projects lately and is undergoing an urban renewal that will no doubt revitalise many areas of the city. Check out some of our other articles on Calgary’s Business where we discuss news, ideas and leaders who are driving local business in our city.
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