CALGARY, AB, Jan. 16, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In 2009, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) unveiled the master plan for East Village – Calgary's newest, oldest, coolest, warmest neighbourhood. And to help convey our vision, we produced a 3D animation that depicted what we hoped and believed East Village would become. Now, nearly five years later, we are sharing a new 3D animation – with one major difference: this time, it shows the neighbourhood as it is actually taking shape. East Village has moved from hopeful speculation to exciting reality!
In those five intervening years, we've tallied a long list of tangible achievements. Infrastructure upgrades. Heritage building restorations. Public art installations. We completed the 4th Street Underpass and two of the RiverWalk's four kilometres. We orchestrated a deal with Cantos Music Foundation to turn the legendary King Eddie into the National Music Centre. We paired the Simmons Building with a trio of local food and beverage superstars: Phil & Sebastian, Charbar and Sidewalk Citizen Bakery. We added plans for a New Central Library to the East Village books; bridged some longstanding gaps with plans for a revitalized St. Patrick's Island and new St. Patrick's Island Bridge; built deals with Embassy BOSA and Fram + Slokker Developments that will open the door to nearly 1,300 new residential units; and after shopping around for exactly the right retail partner, collaborated with RioCan to establish a 300,000 sq. ft. urban shopping centre here in East Village.
Full steam ahead in 2014
With more than 70% of CMLC's available development parcels now sold, the East Village vision – which has been purposefully taking shape since CMLC released the master plan in 2009 – is poised now to come to life in rapid, dramatic fashion!
This year, Calgarians will see the following additions (and many more) to CMLC's growing list of East Village achievements:
The East Village redevelopment program is made possible by an innovative financing model called Community Revitalization Levy (CRL). The CRL is similar to 'tax incremental financing' and is a mechanism by which property tax revenues - from new development - are accessed by the corporation, to put approved infrastructure improvements in place. The CRL catchment area considers the Rivers District area of Calgary, a 309 acre region in Calgary's east end, of which the East Village community is 49 acres.
To date, CMLC has committed $260 Million of improvements (which includes a commitment of $70 million to the New Central Library project) in the area and has attracted nearly $1.6 Billion of new development in the community. This number is expected to grow as the remaining development parcels are sold and activated.
"Our new 3D rendering is a realistic view of what East Village will look like in a few short years from now," says Michael Brown, President & CEO, CMLC. "I think Calgarians will be awestruck to learn how the east side of downtown is transforming into a new urban village; if you haven't been here in a while, it's worth the trip to see all the change."
Photos accompanying this release are available at: