Land Use Application

The key considerations of the proposal include:

The introduction of a new southwest facing plaza on the corner of 17th and 4th;
Development of a high-quality, pedestrian-oriented public realm including a courtyard, pedestrian laneways, and pedestrian corridors along 4th and 17th;
The introduction of new mid-block pedestrian connections on one of 17th Avenue’s longest blocks;
A vehicle servicing strategy that eliminates all vehicle sidewalk crossings on 4th and 17th;
A massing strategy that frames the streets and public spaces at a scale informed by the area’s existing urban fabric and the setback of towers from their podiums to maintain a human-scaled street wall along 17th; and
The transition of tower height from north to south, and a tower placement that prioritizes sunlight penetration and respects resident privacy.

The site is located at Calgary’s “Centre Ice,” one of our city’s most prominent intersections.

Located at the intersection of 4th and 17th - two of Calgary’s most important main streets, and bridge between the Beltline, Mission, and Cliff Bungalow.
The site has the capacity to act as a catalyst for future mixed use developments and to activate the street life eastward along 17th.
With a bike lane planned for 15th Avenue SW, exceptional walkability already in-place, and ample transit routes, the site is well positioned to encourage sustainable transportation choices by residents and visitors.

A Hole in the Heart of Our City

An Open Space Opportunity

Filling an open space gap on 17th Avenue

A plaza at the north-east corner of 17th and 4th provides a public gathering and resting space at a syncopated rhythm along the 17th corridor.
The plaza fills a public space gap between Tomkins and Humpy Hollow parks.
The new plaza will benefit residents and visitors of the Beltline and Mission in providing new spaces to rest, gather and interact.

Urban Design Strategy

The Urban Design strategy centres on introducing:

Interconnected Open Spaces

The Site Plan focuses on a creating an interconnected network of new and enhanced publicly accessible open spaces

Introduces a new south-west facing plaza at north-east corner of 4th Avenue and 17th Avenue SW
Provides a central courtyard, activated by restaurants, cafes and shops
Creates two portes (mid-block connections) off of 17th and 15th Avenues
Provides generous and enhanced public realms along 17th and 15th Avenues and 4th Street SW.

Oriented to the Afternoon

A new public space that will bask in the sun

The new open spaces are designed to feel best during one’s walk home, afternoon walk, happy hour and during dinner time.
The plaza’s main active frontages are oriented to have maximal sun exposure to the south and west
The plaza and courtyard are uniquely positioned to leverage the early afternoon to early evening hours (2-7pm), offering deep sunlight penetration in the courtyard from 4-7pm.
These spaces are intended to compliment others on 17th Avenue by offering different peak sunlight times.

Massing Strategy

Massing has been arranged to enable a human-scaled experience at pedestrian level on all streets, with variety and interest above.

Importantly, the massing steps down towards 17th Avenue, with the south-most tower stepped back from 17th to further reinforce appropriate scale from the road. This transition and stepping down to 17th can be seen in the bottom-right diagram.

In contrast to the typical multi-tower approach,
a massing composition is created where unique elements are proportionally positioned to be in dialogue with the greater context, the site’s interior, and its immediate surroundings.

Tower Stepbacks from 17th

Special consideration has been given to 17th Avenue’s massing.

A traditional three-storey podium is maintained along the majority of the perimeter. At the middle portion of the building (fourth to tenth floors) the building is 2 metres from the property line, and at the tenth floor the tower steps back an additional 2 metres. Collectively, these stepbacks provide a roughly 4 metre setback from 17th Ave for the South Tower, creating a condition where the South Tower will be visually removed from the road, maintaining the traditional street wall scale of the 17th Avenue main street.

This transition in scale allows the site to act as a continuation of the stepping down in massing from the downtown core towards Mission.

Reflecting the Massing Context

The proposed massing strategy reflects the surrounding context’s existing scale and massing at the street level. Remaining consistent with the established street level context allows the project to fit in naturally with the surrounding area.

Height is also stepped down from 15th Ave down to 17th Ave, further reinforcing the development’s role as a transition between the downtown and Mission.

Views

The proposed development will reinforce the 17th Ave street wall while further expanding activity and energy east towards 1st Street and beyond.

A new retail and restaurant experience will contribute to 17th and 4th’s growing vibrancy, pulling people to and through the site throughout the day.

The creation of a prominent new plaza at the corner of 17th and 4th will further elevate this important intersection’s role as a gathering place for Calgarians.

Land Use

Existing Land Use

There are three distinct land use designations on the site today. Two are Direct Control districts created for individual developments that never proceeded, while the third is for the base C-COR1 standard along 17th Avenue that was established through a previous City-led re-designation process.

DC 50D2018
Currently exists as a vacant lot. DC district is based off of CC-X with a maximum FAR of 7.9 or 9 with bonus provisions.

DC 159D2019
Currently exists as a vacant lots. DC district has four sites to allow for a heritage density transfer and additional uses. The two sites located on the development site are both based off of CC-X with a maximum FAR of 8.2 and 9 with bonus provisions.

C-COR1 F3H46
The C-COR1 area current exists as three separate commercial buildings that front onto 17th Avenue.

Previously Approved Development

Narrow Active Alleys & Private Open Spaces

The approved site plan’s main contributions to public space centred on:

A large private open space courtyard, mostly occupied by an exterior vehicle drop-off turnaround is also provided.

The NEW SITE AREA adds significant flexibility and opportunity to revisit the provision and distribution of outdoor publicly accessible open space.

Proposed Land Use

DC (based on CC-X)
This application proposes a land use re-designation of the three existing parcels to a new Direct Control (DC) based on Centre-City Multi-Residential High Rise (CC-MH), with a base FAR that blends the existing entitlements and a maximum FAR of 12 with bonusing provision.

A DC is required to maintain the heritage density transfer that was established by previous applications.

The proposed designation will enable the development as proposed in this document. Besides the maximum density, other specific rules to be included in the DC will be discussed during the land use re-designation process.

Proposed Rules:

Base FAR of 6.65
Maximum FAR through bonusing of 12.0 across the full site
Establish density bonusing rate and bonus items
Minimum setback below 36.0 metres of 1.5 metres from 17th Avenue, 3.0 metres from 15th Avenue, and 1.5 metres from 4th Street.
Minimum setback above 36.0 metres of 3.0 metres from a street and 4.0 metres from a parcel
850sq.m. floor plate restriction above 36.0 metres
Minimum tower separation of 17.5 metres
Removing maximum public area restrictions for Restaurants

Land Use Application