Will 1,200 students move the needle on Calgary's downtown vibrancy problem?

The University of Calgary's determination to relocate its School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape into a 180,000 square-foot abstraction successful the erstwhile Nexen Building — an bureau operation that sat virtually vacant for astir six years — has been lauded by galore arsenic a large measurement for this city's downtown revitalization.

But this metropolis has made galore efforts implicit the years to promote gathering owners to capable their bare bureau spaces with housing, and bring beingness to the streets that look to bare retired erstwhile it's quitting time. And to pump currency into efforts to marque Calgarians consciousness safer successful the core. 

But however does this latest announcement determination the needle? Will it truly bring Calgary steps person to achieving the downtown of its dreams? 

"Just successful the aforesaid mode that a aesculapian schoolhouse is located successful a hospital, a plan schoolhouse needs to beryllium downtown, not conscionable located downtown, but integrated into the workings of downtown," said John Brown, the school's dean. "What I spot erstwhile I look astir is opportunity."

The Nexen Building was designed to beryllium the firm caput bureau for Nova Corp. by designer Fred Valentine, who was recognized for the plan with the 1983 Governor General's Medal in Architecture. 

WATCH | Can filling this bureau gathering revive Calgary's downtown?

The bureau gathering sits close connected Century Gardens, a parkland built successful 1975 that the City of Calgary updated in 2021. It is 1 of the westernmost points of the city's Plus-15 network, and is close adjacent to an LRT stop. 

The Nexen is besides surrounded by bureau conversions, 1 of which, the Petro Fina Building (connected to the Nexen by Plus-15) has already begun partnering with the University of Calgary to promote students to drawback up leases.

These ingredients marque up what galore spot arsenic a large opportunity. 

"I similar to accidental that Calgary does a large occupation of doing a Bank oregon Bloor Street. If we're talking astir Toronto, Calgary doesn't person a King and a Queen Street," said Brown "We don't person that benignant of cultural, youthful alternative, the benignant of vibrant assemblage that draws radical downtown oregon draws radical to an area, makes everything safer."

Brown recognizes the city's downtown, including the onshore wherever the Nexen Building sits, has seen its just stock of challenges. 

In general, downtown has faced an increase successful societal issues, starring to mediocre perceptions of information with the public. The city and state person focused galore efforts connected transgression and societal disorder, similar cause usage successful nationalist areas.

At the aforesaid time, ground-floor businesses conflict to enactment open. It's not uncommon to spot faded for-lease signs successful the area. 

Brown says adding 1,200 students to the premix volition assistance dissipate immoderate of these challenges. 

But immoderate deliberation it would instrumentality much enactment for the West End of Calgary's downtown to blossom into this benignant of taste hub. 

Beverly Sandalack, a prof astatine the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, says the Nexen Building has much imaginable than different conversions.

"There's a batch of things determination that are waiting for speedy redevelopment, but I deliberation it has to hap reasonably rapidly successful bid for the spot to become, you know, the benignant of vibrant neighbourhood," Sandalack said. "It can't instrumentality decades. It conscionable can't." 

A struggling downtown isn't caller for Calgary. Take a travel done paper archives and you'll beryllium confronted by headlines like "Urban Rot Threatens City Core," a 1966 portion from the Calgary Herald's past metropolis hallway newsman John Howse. It could've been written today. 

"Economic beingness dilatory ebbs from the city's aged centre shell. Its chronic sickness manifests itself, conscionable arsenic the disfigured blotches of a tegument disease, successful bare stores, blighted decrepit buildings, disfigured parking lots, choking postulation and successful the poorness and societal breakdown of its residents." 

OK, possibly a spot dramatic, but Calgary's modern headlines travel akin themes. 

And for bully reason. 

Calgary has the highest downtown bureau vacancy complaint successful Canada. And dissimilar different cities, Calgary's bureau vacancy occupation started earlier COVID-19, beginning during the 2014-15 lipid and state downturn and peaking successful 2021. 

That year, the City of Calgary began implementing its downtown strategy — a 10-year program that's present 4 years in. A advancement study released April 22 showed what the metropolis called promising aboriginal returns connected nationalist investments that present tally up to much than $250 cardinal successful funding. 

Some of the city-identified highlights include: 

• 300 caller lodging units converted from offices.
• $1.8-billion increase successful downtown spot values since 2022.
• 12% alteration successful societal upset calls since past April.

Tracy Hadden Loh studies commercialized existent property arsenic a chap astatine the Brookings Institution in the United States. She's focused on the contented of struggling downtown centres, and what tin beryllium done to revive them. 

Downtowns and productivity 

Hadden Loh describes downtowns arsenic being successful a perpetual balancing act. They request to respond to changes successful the occupation market, population, alteration successful habits and enactment technology. All of that tin hap faster than the built situation tin support pace. Hence, the pendulum swings betwixt a downtown that's costly and elite, oregon a downtown that's unsafe and failing. 

Having a steadfast halfway is bully for the full city, she adds. A batch of that productivity, she notes, comes down to the economical thought of agglomeration: which conscionable means a wide postulation of things concentrated successful 1 area. 

"In bid for downtowns to beryllium relevant, you know, they request to connection thing for everyone," she said. "What I recovered successful my probe is that crossed the apical 45 U.S. metro areas, the much jobs that are concentrated downtown, the much productive the full portion is."

Walsh Mannas, a existent property broker with Avison Young, says he's stopped guessing erstwhile Calgary volition get backmost to a low-teens vacancy rate.  

"It's been comparatively level for rather a while. So inactive precise overmuch supra mean vacancy, hovering betwixt 25 and 28 per cent for a fig of years now," Mannas said.

What Mannas is watching is the wide economical communicative of Alberta, and Calgary. Both, helium said, are positive, which gives him anticipation the city's vacancy complaint volition proceed to inclination successful the close direction. 

A post-secondary schoolhouse isn't caller for Calgary's core. The metropolis already has a beardown pupil colonisation successful the downtown with Bow Valley College, the University of Lethbridge, Mount Royal University and others done the years — including the University of Calgary's existent downtown gathering that houses its Continuing Education programs and the School of Public Policy.

But adding much of a post-secondary beingness downtown, Hadden Loh said, could person a trickle-down payment for the city's economy. 

And, she adds, students are bully customers for those office-to-residential conversions. 

According to Calgary's caller State of Downtown report, determination are 11 progressive office-residential conversions, with 7 scheduled to beryllium completed successful 2025.

"A batch of these apartments are a small weird and students are looking for cheap, flexible housing. They person a higher tolerance for if the level program is simply a small weird, and truthful they are a logical tenant basal and marketplace for office-to-residential conversions," said Hadden Loh. 

But Sandalack believes plopping much students, oregon much residents successful the Downtown West won't beryllium transformative without different plans and investments. 

"The westbound extremity of downtown has truthful overmuch imaginable due to the fact that there's rather a large residential colonisation surviving there, but there's thing happening astatine crushed level," Sandalack said. "It's lone a fewer blocks to the Bow River and the stream pathway system, but you'd ne'er cognize it. Because the connections conscionable aren't precise good."

Downtown West is the densest neighbourhood by country successful Calgary, location to much than 2,800 people. But according to the city's ain web page, it trails different communities successful improvement activity, nationalist investment and spot values.

There are immoderate choices successful Calgary's operation that Sandalack feels would instrumentality drastic measures to retrieve from if these easier interventions don't work. 

Office buildings with azygous entries into large daunting lobbies, spaces that don't person built-in ground-floor storefronts. There's besides the Plus-15 web — a pedway strategy that's often blamed for the demise of street-level businesses. Finally, the one-way streets that enactment similar a tide unreserved for commuters but besides guarantee the beingness of downtown bleeds retired erstwhile the workday is done.

"I americium of the content that it needs a truly extremist rethink," Sandalack said. "The benignant of municipality signifier that we created successful the '60s and '70s and '80s — it's massively obsolete." 

While determination are hints of assemblage amenities, and 3rd spaces similar a cafe, oregon smaller residential shops, she feels those types of spaces request to be more communal to get residents to usage their backyard for societal engagements, oregon mundane errands. 

Thom Mahler, the city's manager of downtown strategy, says this is thing they are moving to address. 

On the agenda: the metropolis plans to rebuild Stephen Avenue eastbound to west, and make a much vibrant "main street" through the magnitude of the pedestrian mall. Then, there's the plans to crook Eighth Street S.W. into a "main street" for the neighbourhood. 

"It'll see a batch much trees, cycling infrastructure, wider sidewalks for patios and different types of hospitality uses. So we are each benignant of coming unneurotic present arsenic we repopulate the buildings," Mahler said. 

As for Plus-15s, and one-way streets: Those aren't the main absorption of the city's transformation agenda. Mahler said the pedways are inactive seen arsenic important amenities for bureau towers and hotels. 

"The one-way streets, that's thing that's been connected the radar. It comes up successful each cities that person one-way streets," Mahler said. "I bash deliberation a batch of it is that the much radical surviving downtown … that starts to alteration people's cognition of, well, what's needed here. When you conscionable enactment downtown, you know, you're benignant of focused connected what's my acquisition getting from location to the office. That's each I'm looking for."