QUADREAL’s EAU CLAIRE DEVELOPMENT

Timeline of Activities

25-06-11 Quad Real is hosting a drop-in information session for the community at Jamieson Place from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

25-05-06 Editor’s Note June 7, 2025. The following is the result of one of our volunteer board members searching the City of Calgary website for information. We are very disappointed in the lack of information provided by City Planning and have had to try to find the information from public sources.

QuadReal’s current request to have their Land Use Amendment application designed as Division 5: Centre City Mixed Use District (CC-X)

Feedback on CC-X:

  • We do not believe that the City should support the CC-X land use district for the location of the QR lands for the following reasons (to name a few):

    • This is a mixed-use template, and the lands are clearly residential on the ARP.

    • This designation “is intended to provide for a mix of commercial, residential and a limited range of light industrial uses on sites within the Centre City area;

    • When you go onto the above link for CC-X and scroll down to the link that opens for “light industrial”, there is nothing on that list which is remotely appropriate for this land in the heart of Eau Claire.

Looking at other land use Districts close by where there is a large residential component, ECCA will suggest to the City to use the following template from East Village and then adapt to what is fitting for the QR lands in Eau Claire:

Division 6: Centre City East Village River Residential District (CC-ERR)

Purpose

1271 The Centre City East Village River Residential District is intended to provide for:

  • A signature site with high visibility and direct riverfront views;

  • mainly residential uses with support commercial uses;

  • active commercial uses located on the ground floor of a building; and

  • a building form that is street oriented at grade

25-05-23 Quad Real attended the ECCA AGM and spoke to residents. They provided new flyers which now refer to Land Use CC-X

25-03-06 ECCA hosted a meeting with Terry Wong and representatives from local condo boards to discuss the proposed development by Quad Real and neighbourhood mobility including the issue of 5th Street.

Editor’s Note June 7, 2025. ECCA brought our concerns to our Ward 7 Councillor, Terry Wong on March 6, 2025. These were the concerns we had at that time. Some, like Quad Real looking for a CR-20 have changed since. Any errors are ours; we are not professional planners or legal experts.

Your Eau Claire Community Association is excited at the prospect of development on this significant site. We are looking for residential development in keeping with our Area Redevelopment Plan.

The City of Calgary has invested heavily over the last five years in the Eau Claire Public Realm, and they, and the taxpayers, have a vested interest in a development of this size and location. We should be united in pursuing quality and legacy over extreme density and developer profit.

As you can see from our ARP map the QuadReal lands are firmly in the yellow, residential area of the neighbourhood while they are proposing a CR20/R20 designation and casually mentioning self-storage businesses which appear to be a discretionary use in the Industrial – Commercial District zoning.

QuadReal wants to change our ARP to make things easier for them to get a Land Use Amendment passed. And the Land Use Amendment will make a future Development Plan easier to force through for them or for any future buyer. We need to engage now, not complacently wait for more information.

QuadReal has proposed changes to Clause 5.41 of our ARP which will allow for far greater residential density than ever envisioned for this neighbourhood. Increasing the Floor Area Ratio from 2 – 6 to 7.5 – 9.75 opens the possibility of micro-condos which many investors in Vancouver and Toronto are running away from because of their limited appeal and poor resale value.

Representatives of QuadReal have told us that they need excessively high FARs to allow for parking and utilities above grade as they have at their SODO development on 10th Avenue and 5th Street in the Beltline. We suggest that specific wording could be put into the Land Use Amendment to allow for parking and utilities above grade (assuming that street-level interaction doesn’t suffer) without changing the ARP.

ECCA is also concerned that clause 5.41 has never been reviewed and updated since the “Oxford Properties” were split up. We’d like the City lawyers to proactively review this clause to see if some remnants thereof -- such as the 5% social housing and the residential/commercial split -- fit with the current over-arching goals of the ARP. We support this component of social housing.

ECCA does not support making any changes requested by QuadReal at this time.

We are advocating for City Planning to demand concurrent Land Use Amendment and Development Permit applications to force full project information from QuadReal.

Our beloved community of Eau Claire is a community for ALL Calgarians. What gets developed here impacts the spirit and experience for everybody. The QuadReal lands should be developed with a larger, more visionary master-planned approach. These are legacy lands which deserve legacy planning.

The Eau Claire ARP should not be amended by the City of Calgary for any developer without a substantive and fulsome assessment, including new Eau Claire resident surveys.

We have the opportunity to do this right, together, let’s not waste it!

25-01-24 Local resident begins asking the City to reacquire the ownership of 5th Street between 2nd Avenue and Eau Claire Avenue. ECCA agrees that this road needs to be part of the bike lane to increase safety for all modes of transportation.

24-12-05 Continued contact from residents expressing concern.

24-10-23 Quad Real Virtual Information Session Slidedeck

24-10-21 Requested the City pro-actively review clause 5.4.1 in ARP

Quad Real has requested a change to section 5.4.1 of our ARP but we need some clarity from you and your department about what certain things mean and if they are still legally relevant.

  • Quad Real met with us and explained the sales and transfer agreements between their principal (BC Investment Management Corporation) and Oxford. Since these A and B lands no longer share ownership, we wonder how the requirements in 5.4.1 affect the individual plots.

  • For instance, if Quad Real develops 0% “social” housing, will that require Oxford or their successor to develop more to meet the overall requirement of 5% on what used to be joint lands?

  • If Quad Real develops 1000 of the required residential units, are we accidentally allowing a future development by Oxford to get away with only 250 units and much more commercial?

  • In addition, Quad Real explained their experience at their SODO development on 10th Avenue at 5th Street SW and stated that having above ground parking and utilities require a much larger FAR than if both were underground as used to be the common standard. Can you clarify if that is true in Eau Claire as well?

If that is the case, can you suggest wording that will allow Quad Real/BCIMC the right to implement that above ground usage if they deem it necessary without opening up the entire FAR to a density that could allow them, or a future owner, to build tiny micro-apartments on this land?

Given that there may be specific legal rights and obligations arising from this clause we think it’s incumbent on the City to make any changes that are required. We don’t support using Quad Real’s wording without it being vetted by the City lawyers.

24-10-03 ECCA Chair & Secretary met at SODO with Jeff Hyde and Miguel Martinez

24-09-27 Emails began arriving from residents concerned about the proposed development

24-09-20 ECCA Chair & Secretary met virtually with Jeff Hyde and Miguel Martinez

24-09-06 LOC2024-0197 Circulation Package arrived from City of Calgary