New restaurant/office development planned along Riverwalk in Calgary's East Village

CALGARY - Village-style retail space with restaurants along the ground level and unique office space above is planned along the RiverWalk area near the Bow River in the East Village neighbourhood.

Calgary Municipal Land Corporation announced Wednesday that the development on 10,872 square feet of land by Calgarys XYC Design + Development will take place immediately east of the historic Simmons Building.

Kate MacGregor, president of XYC Design + Development, who also works as an architectural designer with nArchitects in New York City, said the M2 parcel is a highly visible site, and even though its small, it will have a huge presence in East Village.

The prominent location is ideal for what we intend to develop namely, village-style retail space with restaurants along the ground level and unique office space above. This wont just be an amenity for the neighbourhood, it will be a destination for all Calgarians, she said.

It will be really unique office space that I think will really be unlike any other office space in the city just because of the quality of architecture that were producing here and also just being right on the river and being right on the bike path but also part of this mixed-use neighbourhood.

The project by XYC Design + Development will yield between 17,000 to 20,000 square feet of village-format retail and office space in a four-storey building that fronts onto RiverWalk. Two restaurants, one fine dining and the other casual, on the main floor will spill out onto RiverWalks public promenade. XYC Design + Development is currently finalizing files for their Development Permit Application, which they expect to submit early in the new year. The office space will be about 12,000 square feet with the potential of one or two tenants.

The design of the building is by nArchitects - Eric Bunge, Mimi Hoang - with associate architect Riddell Kurczaba.

As a Calgarian I feel really privileged to be able to participate in this new neighbourhood which I think really aligns with my values as an an architect and as an engineer and someone who has lived in New York City and is hoping to come back to Calgary for a neighbourhood just like this one, said MacGregor.

She said she hopes construction will begin in 2016 dependent on the development permit process with a 12-month construction period.

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New restaurant/office development planned along Riverwalk in Calgary's East Village