Towers will rise over Dalhousie Co-op as council approves redevelopment

One day after telling Calgary Co-op to rework its proposal for a major redevelopment in Oakridge, city council approved a more ambitious plan for the cooperative's Dalhousie site.

The $300-million Dalhousie plan calls for two new residential towers with a total of 440 units, offices, a gas station, a liquor store, a convenience store and a new Co-op grocery store.

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"It's been a long four years getting here and yeah, we're pretty excited that we can move forward and start our vision and get, you know, these projects underway," said Tony Argento, the director of real estate and development for Calgary Co-op.

The consumer cooperative is itching to makeover four of its older properties, including Oakridge, Dalhousie,Winston Heights and Brentwood. Each site would see residential towers sitting atop new stores.

Construction next year

On Monday, council told Calgary Co-op that it wasn't satisfied with the plans for the Oakridgesite, with Mayor Naheed Nenshi criticizing the continued focus on cars and parking lots over pedestrians and connection to the surrounding community.

Argento said the delay could kill redevelopment of that site.

The mayor said the Dalhousie plan had fewer problems than Oakridge.

"I wasn't sure there was much you could tweak that one to make it better and Ijust hope that the applicant really takes the lessons they've learned on their next two sites and brings us something that's better," he said.

Argento said construction could start in phases some time next year. The Winston Heights and Brentwoodplans will come before council later this year.

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