Two Calgary Co-op stores could undergo significant redevelopment if city council gives the projects a green light on Monday.
The proposed developments in Oakridge and Dalhousie would see the existing grocery store sites redeveloped to a mixed-use property and would include a new grocery store, office space, and roughly 700 residential units between the two sites.
Residents in Oakridge are concerned about the impact the additional density would have on their community and are hoping that any new development would be sensitive to the existing development in the neighbourhood.
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In Dalhousie, residents are concerned about the height of the proposed building – 22 storeys – and told city planners they hoped the site would fit in with the existing community character.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi told reporters Monday that while he didn’t want to pre-judge the public hearing process, set to take place later that afternoon, he had his own questions about the proposed developments.
“I will say that I have a very high bar for the quality of the kinds of redevelopments we need, especially on big sites and critical sites like these,” Nenshi said.
“I’m not convinced these plans are good enough for those neighbourhoods. I think they could be better in terms of design and in terms of interface with the neighbourhood. I’ll have a lot of questions about that.”