The Parks | 146.91m | 45s | 35s | 13s | Pangman | Hariri Pontarini

What do you think of this project?

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Maclab Development Group
1,504 followers
2h • Edited • 2 hours ago

Helllloooo YEG!

The Parks project is coming along nicely and we are SO excited. I mean, would you look at this view?! 😍

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I'm really excited to see a different view here soon. It has been like this since I was 18, and I'm just shy of 53.
I get what you're saying and I'm in the same age bracket as you are. However, this photo illustrates that a lot has changed in the past decade or so. Roger's Place, JW, Ultima, Fox1 and 2 , COE Tower,Stantec and EPCOR didn't exist in this photo. From certain angles, I'll agree, the core looks like it has been frozen in time. There's some good progress but there's still a ways to go.
 
Personally I think this project (along with Warehouse Park because they are intertwined) will bring the single biggest positive change in downtown since Ice District. The two towers plus podium look great based on designs and I think having a huge active park right beside will breathe some new life and change in the downtown core.

Anyone know when they plan to start construction on the podium and tower 2 facing Jasper? I know they need to demo those derelict buildings first so might be a few years.
 
Yes. The park would be the best positive change to the core because it’s a project that completely reshapes the downtown and offers a template to investors. Ice District is an incredible project and 10 years down the road is gonna be something to behold. The difference between them is that a single person/entity owns all the land around. The reason why ice districts impact will take longer to take shape is because of that. If Katz didn’t own the land to the north of the arena that land might’ve been developed by someone else during the boom. Things take longer when you need to wait for a ROI.
The warehouse park on the other hand is a public funded project where land around the park is up for grabs. This park is more likely to create a larger building boom around the park area as developers would be building their towers around a large marketable free amenity on their doorsteps.
 
I wish Pangman / MacLab would decree that the link, 13 storey and 45 storey will be started as soon as this tower reaches ground level
I so desperately want to ensure they end up completing all elements of this.
 
Yes. The park would be the best positive change to the core because it’s a project that completely reshapes the downtown and offers a template to investors. Ice District is an incredible project and 10 years down the road is gonna be something to behold. The difference between them is that a single person/entity owns all the land around. The reason why ice districts impact will take longer to take shape is because of that. If Katz didn’t own the land to the north of the arena that land might’ve been developed by someone else during the boom. Things take longer when you need to wait for a ROI.
The warehouse park on the other hand is a public funded project where land around the park is up for grabs. This park is more likely to create a larger building boom around the park area as developers would be building their towers around a large marketable free amenity on their doorsteps.

Completely agree. Ice District will be successful, the pandemic just threw a huge wrench into everything. At least with Katz Group being the owner we know eventually there will be Ice District village north of Roger's and one day a tower of some sort where the Baccarat once was. However the timeline is lengthy, solely for the reason as you said they need a ROI, which I have no doubt they will achieve.

With this development it seems like the potential is greater but it's also a greater unknown. A lot depends on the success of how the market responds to these towers once they come online and how people enjoy the park. That's why it's essential to ensure the park is a slam dunk and that developers want to buy land and build towers around them for people to enjoy. Time will tell.
 
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I would like to add that if we want to make downtown attractive and inviting to residents and businesses, we need to create greater ease of access and affordability in the core. I would be 100% okay with seeing more affordable small scale developments pop up that allow for more affordable rentable commercial space. I also think owners in the core should get parking passes that allow for 24/7 365 day street parking. When they made changes to street parking in 2015 it essentially killed some traditions my buddies and I had of coming downtown, watching games, having drinks, and then crashing at my condo. Immediately after, we moved to the suburbs because people were afraid of getting tickets.

The city does what most major cities do in the sense of what it permits and what it allows for parking. I just think if the city TRULY cared about making the downtown inviting, they'd build parks, have lenient parking rules, and encourage building affordable spaces for restaurants, retail, etc.
 
^ We almost need more.. subpar yet affordable CRUs in downtown. There is clearly a disconnect between who and what can afford rents on new developments, and developers won't/can't budge on psf rates due to valuation. The most active and alive street downtown, 104th, is plagued by Fox's forever empty CRUs. Whyte, for all of how expensive it can be, does have a number of more affordable retail spaces that a lot of unique little shops open up into that allows them to grow into the more pricey spots, fostering growth.

Look at From Another, a local streetwear retail shop, who started out in a dinky little micro CRU that doesn't even face Whyte on 101st, then grew into an upstairs unit on Whyte and 105th, and now a ground level CRU on Whyte (plus a store in Calgary!). While it of course is very much a Whyte Ave type of store, there is zero chance a similar retail startup could ever make it work downtown unless they have deep pockets and a high risk tolerance.
 

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