I think the upshot is builders claim renovations are only cost-effective in older buildings of limited size, unless governments or others are willing to subsidize things and streamline processes. But I would imagine much of this depends on marketability. Good locations probably work. And some people seem to like the idea of living in old churches or factories. Toronto had a few waterfront factories nicely converted, but I’ve no idea how easy or lucrative this was. Calgary seems to be ahead of the game because of less red tape, more risk appetite and stakeholder consensus.
As a Calgarian that works on the periphery of downtown I have no clue what they are talking about. There were several very old stone / brick low rise commercial blocks converted maybe a decade ago in an attempt at some sort of hipster condos in the Beltline area - an older - not tall - part of downtown.
There has been a bunch of rezoning and construction of new high rise condo and appartment blocks. The ‘East Village’ is an older run down part of downtown (with no old high-rises) that has been re-developed with new stylish residential high rises and some amenities to possibly some level of success.
We operate out of a couple modified old buildings, one of which is over a hundred years old. The neighbourhood has been rezoned to allow mixed use and taller construction. There are currently three and a soon to be fourth residential high rise being built a few blocks east, where the rezoning has allowed even taller construction. Twenty stories or so. Not sure. Not excited about the traffic. We plan to move to a larger shop in a couple years anyway.
There are new multistorey residential buildings being constructed all over the city.
There has been talk of such conversions but I didn’t think anything had happened. As somewhat of an expert in single family construction, but admittedly limited experience with commercial construction it seems like a terrible idea to me.
No I didn’t read the article. I should be sleeping. And Calgary was never in danger of becoming the ‘next Detroit’. That is idiotic.