White: Anchor housing with main element

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Grocery stores have played a major role in shaping Calgary over the past 75 years. In the 1950s, they merged into neighborhood main streets, and then in the 20th century they became anchors for outdoor malls (such as North Hill and later Glenmore Landing) and indoor malls (Market Mall still exists).

By the turn of the 21st century, they had become the anchors of suburban “power centers,” where each vendor had his own pad, haphazardly placed in a sea of ​​surface parking that impeded the walk from store to store.

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Indeed, grocery stores have evolved to meet the changing market. They're not just about food anymore, they're a florist, cafe and pharmacy — a one-stop shop for most of your daily needs.

Suburban food anchors

I've been advocating for decades that power centers should include residential, ideally above retail, but to no avail until recently. Royop Developments' new suburban shopping centers in Nolan Hill and Carrington Green, northwest of Calgary, are designed with residences near grocery stores and other everyday amenities from recreation to retail to medical offices, creating a highly walkable lifestyle.

Carrington Green shops include No Frills grocery store and Jovi apartment block (182 purpose-built rentals), all near the Rotary Mattamy Greenway and nature reserve.

The hub will also include office space for doctors, dentists and other professional services, as well as restaurants, shopping and entertainment businesses, increasing walkability.

New grocery stores in designated communities

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Calgary's older communities are also seeing new grocery stores anchoring residential development. Royop's Munro project is a joint partnership with Calgary Co-op to combine a new 40,000-square-foot grocery store with 189 new homes above along 16th Avenue NE in Winston Park. It is expected to open in 2025.

Marda Loop will also get a new Calgary Co-op grocery store (in partnership with Truman Homes), which could transform the entire block into an urban residential hub that will add up to 500 new homes by 2027.

There's also Northland Village Mall, which is being renovated to become more of a “village” and less of a “mall,” including the addition of a walkable neighborhood to amenities like Walmart, including a grocery store, pharmacy, clothing and auto repair. .

Then there's RioCan's proposal to redevelop the Glenmore Landing shopping center by keeping Safeway Road but surrounding it with residential development.

Grocery Stores Inner City Redevelopment

The Midtown Calgary Co-op store opened in 2004 at 11th Avenue and 11th Street, with a residential tower on the parking lot. Since then, several new residential towers have been built within walking distance.

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In 2007, The Keynote project in Victoria Park incorporated a Sunterra grocery store as part of a three-tower project – two residential towers, one office tower. This was the catalyst for the construction of many residential towers nearby.

On the Beltline, BOSA Development integrated an Urban Fare grocery store into the 34-story Royal condominium tower with 223 new homes in 2018.

The main street of the University District (University Avenue) began in 2020 with the construction of a thrift store with a high residential density at street level. Today, there are three residential blocks of shopping, restaurants and recreation along University Avenue NW. above them. It resembles the traditional street pattern of the 1950s and 60s, where shopkeepers stood above their shops, but with a modern twist.

A Superstore opened in 2020 in the East Village, with one large rental tower above it. A second condo tower is slated for completion in late 2023. Calgary Municipal Land Corp. company's promise of an East Village grocery store spurred more housing.

Look for an urban grocery store to join the third phase of the Cidex West Village Towers in Midwest and possibly Truman Homes' Frontier residential project on the old Kensington Legion site in West Hillhurst.

Last word

Gone are the days of old mid-century pedestrian streets and pop shops. The new urban model is a hub with a grocery store as an anchor and several restaurants, recreation and medical offices.

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