Another step in the revitalization of Calgary’s East Village with an announcement Tuesday of a unique condo project on 8 Avenue S.E.
Knightsbridge Homes is proposing to build two condo towers, one on each side of the historic St. Louis Hotel.
The towers will have all the usual amenities except for one thing- no parking.
The project targets buyers between the ages of 20 to 35 and has been designed to appeal to younger people who aren’t interest in owning a vehicle.
The only parking spaces available will be for bicycles and microcars. Each buyer will receive a $500 credit for Car2Go and an urban bicycle. And if that isn’t enough, a C-Train station is just around the corner.
“We’re 272 steps from the City Hall LRT station,” says Joe Starkman, president of Knightsbridge Homes. “We’re looking for a young demographic who live and work downtown.”
The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), which is overseeing development of the East Village, says the project is a perfect fit for its vision of a pedestrian-friendly community.
“This building reflects what we’re trying to accomplish with our master plan,” explains Michael Brown, President and CEO of the CMLC. “We’ve spent a lot of dollars on infrastructure, looking for a pedestrian-friendly environment.”
Knightsbridge believes the concept will go over well with the target market – buyers who don’t value car ownership the same way as previous generations, a trend that has been emerging over the past few years.
Because it’s less expensive to build condos without parking spaces, the 300 units in the two towers will be competitively priced, averaging $225,000.
Knightsbridge Homes applied for a development permit from the city earlier this month and hopes to begin construction in the spring of 2015. If the project is approved, one and two bedroom condos will go on sale in the fall.
Comments