East Village rebirth started 15 years ago; there's still much work to do

Ken Peach is a pioneer of the East Village. He purchased a two-bedroom condominium in one of the first shiny new towers that sprung up in what was once described as Calgary's most neglected, downtrodden, forgotten and unsafe community.

Seven years later, he's become entrenched in the community. He joined the East Village Neighbourhood Association five years ago; he's been president for the past two years. He organizes community events, trying to encourage people to get out of their condos to mix and mingle with their neighbours.

What he'd like to see is more people in the community, more vibrancy and more development.

"We should have seen more towers here than there are now but economics fit into that picture, Peach said during a recent interview at the downtown library, one of East Village's architectural gems.

Peach isn't blaming the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) for the apparent slowdown in construction. He says the city-owned development company has faced a lot of headwinds. Those difficulties included the great recession in 2008, a flood in 2013, a major oil price downturn in 2014-15 and a global pandemic that brought land sales to a complete halt in 2020. 

Negotiations to purchase one of the prime sites have been sputtering for years. One developer forfeited a $1-million deposit to CMLC after failing to start construction on time. 

Two large developable parcels of land in the heart of the community remain parking lots as their owners aren't expected to start construction for a while.

"We would like to have seen more done by now. But circumstances beyond our control and CMLC's control actually have impeded that," he said.

Most of the development has occurred on the outer edges of the community. 

Satellite images show several large surface parking lots in the centre of the community that remain undeveloped. Virtually all of the new development has occurred on the outer edges of the neighbourhood.

So, what's been built so far? How many parcels of land are sitting empty? What happened to the decade-old pledge to provide affordable housing in the East Village? Is the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation on track with its plan to welcome 11,500 people into 3,900 residential units in the neighbourhood?

The plan: 11,500 people, 3,900 condos

While the city's development company boasts how much has been accomplished, there's still much to do, according to Peach and housing advocates.

The original goal, according to CMLC's planning documents, is for East Village to be home to 11,500 people and 3,900 new condos and apartments by 2027. 

CMLC says 1,500 condos have been built so far and another 400 are under construction. It says approximately 4,000 people call the area home. 

"We appreciate the concern and the urgency that the community wants to see, like a fully developed community, sort of, as soon as possible. We certainly were navigating the circumstances of market that affected the timing of development coming into the community over the past number of years," said Clare LePan, CMLC's vice-president of marketing and communications.

There is no new time frame for the area's build-out.

"The timing for future build-out completion will be dependent on completion dates on a few development sites that are still in planning stages," said LePan.

"We think the unit count and population targets are still realistic."

The pandemic hit the brakes on land sales and development, but the outlook for 2023 is better.

"We're really optimistic that we're sort of gaining that traction in the community again, to see some of the future sites that aren't yet developed break ground and really round out what the East Village vision first called for when it was first published in 2009," LePan said.

Recent land deals involve Minto Communities Canada, Alston Properties and One Properties. The developers are promising several hundred new condos over the next few years. When Alston's land purchase was announced a year ago, CMLC said construction would start in the summer of 2022, but that didn't happened. The company hasn't responded to a request for an update.

A number of towers have sprouted over the years, but the ownership market has changed and developers have switched from condos to rentals. 

Much has been done, but currently there is just one active construction site.

• Cidex finished a 28-storey rental tower.
• Fram + Slokker built two condo towers, the 25-storey Verve and the 18-storey First.
• Bosa Development has completed the 33-storey Evolution Pulse, 21-storey Evolution Fuse and the 24-storey Arris. A fourth tower, at 42 storeys, is under construction. 
• There's a 14-storey condo building called Ink, and N3, a 16-storey condo building.
• Two hotels, 11 and 14 storeys, have also gone up.

CMLC says private sector investment in East Village this year reached $300 million, bringing the total so far to $3 billion.

Has it really been 15 years?

City council voted 15 years ago to create CMLC. Dave Bronconnier was mayor, and the world was on the brink of a crippling financial crisis and global recession.

CMLC was tasked with getting the 49 acres (20 hectares) of land ready for development. That included placing new roads, building an underpass, installing new utilities, street lights, flood-proofing, pathways and a pedestrian bridge to St. Patrick's Island.

It took three years before the first parcel of land was sold. In 2010, Bosa Development purchased a site along Riverfront Avenue that is now home to Pulse and Fuse, a mid-rise building and townhomes. Across the street, the company is finishing its second rental tower, which sits atop the neighbourhood's only grocery store.

The first residents to move into the new East Village started unpacking in 2015.

The National Music Centre, the Central Library and the Platform Innovation Centre and Parkade opened. Several historic buildings were renovated and brought back to life. A number of retail, restaurant and commercial spaces have also opened.

Market housing, market rates

The East Village plan long ago promoted affordability as a feature of the neighbourhood, CMLC says all of the new 1,500 condos and apartments are based on market rates and rents. None are subsidized or offered at below-market rates.

A recent scan of available rental properties found the lowest price for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,750 per month. Three-bedroom apartments range from $2,800 to $4,000. Two-bedroom condos to purchase range from $259,900 to $650,000. 

Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC), which advocates for poverty reduction and an increased supply of affordable housing in Calgary, says there are more than 81,000 households in the city in need of affordable accommodations. Those are households that spend more than 30 per cent of their income on shelter.

The wait list for subsidized housing through the Calgary Housing Company alone is estimated at 6,000.

Meaghon Reid, executive director of the non-profit, says that in Ward 7, which includes East Village, more than one quarter of households pay more than 30 per cent of their income on housing. Specific to East Village, she says the area is out of reach for many people. 

"We could be doing a lot better to make sure that we're targeting development towards those affordable housing units for people that want to be close to amenities like transit and the downtown," said Reid.

Reid says young professionals and mid-career professionals without children are the most likely to be able to afford to live in East Village.

She says it's not too late to include subsidized, non-market housing in East Village.

Reid says co-operative housing is one option; so, too, is mandating a certain number of affordable units within a new development.  

Reid says the community would likely be more vibrant if families, newcomers and people from different income brackets could afford to live there.

"What do we want the East Village to look like? Who do we want to live here? And then that's how you have to build. And that's how you have to drive affordable housing, too. It's such a vibrant place with a lot of potential. I'm not sure that we're meeting that potential, because of who we are pricing out of the village."

Affordable housing options

CMLC says there's nothing it can to do to ensure affordable housing units are included in a new project. LePan says that would be managed through the regulatory approval process at the city.

"We've tried to bring in developers with a range of price points, although they are currently all market-based," she said.

"There is a range of price points within the community. Certainly I think that that affordable housing piece is a piece that could be further explored to sort of lower the barrier to entry into residential product," she said.

Peach says more affordable options could help lure families and others to the neighbourhood.

"It would be nice to see that cross-section. And I've always said, a real community needs to have all socio-economic levels in as well as all the demographics, and including young people, families, seniors and professionals," he said.

Bryan Labby is an enterprise reporter with CBC Calgary. If you have a good story idea or tip, you can reach him at bryan.labby@cbc.ca or on Twitter at @CBCBryan.