An application has been made to rezone the property at 101–109 17 Avenue SW to allow for the development of a mixed-use building featuring a two-floor commercial podium and a 70-metre residential tower. This site at the southwest corner of 17th Avenue and Centre Street has been home to Economy Glass for decades.
For further context, this site is immediately north of the Duke condo, a block north of St. Mary’s High School, across Centre Street from the Mission 17 apartment building that is home to Rosso Coffee Roasters, and about a block as the crow flies northeast of St. Mary’s Cathedral.
This is in the zone of 17 Avenue between 2 Street SW and the Stampede Grounds that has long been a lifeless stretch of auto body shops, car rental offices and unassuming office blocks. A development that brings new residents and businesses to that section of 17th would certainly be welcome, provided it’s well designed and doesn’t adversely affect existing properties.
It should be noted that this site has been identified in the new West Elbow Communities Local Area Plan as “Neighbourhood Commercial”, which will allow for buildings up to 26 storeys. The CBMCA is not loving that scale of building – Cliff Bungalow-Mission is not the Beltline – but the City has already approved towers at 1 and 5A Streets and it’s clear that we’ll see more of these high density projects along our major corridors.
The blocks between 17 and 18 Avenues and west of 4 Street are interesting, and can be challenging for developers, due to the lack of a back alley. In the case of this proposed development there will be very little separation between the new building and the north side of the Duke condo. Many of the community association’s comments to the City have had to do with setbacks.
Another concern is shadowing, especially as it affects the newly redeveloped Humpy Hollow Park across 17th. The developer has indicated that they plan to orient a relatively narrow tower at the west end of the site to minimize shadowing on the park.
If the applicant gets approval for their rezoning application, we expect to see more detailed plans later this year.
There is another large project proposed for this part of Mission about a half block east of this site. We’ll bring you details of that development next month. And finally, we’ve heard that there are also major developments slated for the Beltline side of 17th in this area, so it’s certainly looking like the ‘dead zone’ between 2nd and the Stampede is poised to become a lot more lively!
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