A development proposal for Calgary’s East Village is looking to attract a new kind of homebuyer, one that is willing to live in a building without something that many others can’t bear to live without.
Knightbridge Homes is planning to build twin condo buildings on either side of the old St. Louis Hotel.
The developer is trying to target the new population of Generation ‘Y’ buyers by not building a single parking stall for either one.
They say that the buyers will be more than willing to take transit, ride their bikes, or use a car share service like Calgary’s Car2Go.
The first residents are expected to move in next year, but they will need to deal with ongoing construction and an unfinished product.
Real estate brokers say that anyone buying there will have to have an imagination.
“That’s the sound of progress and so I think that that problem that they have is a good problem to have,” says Scott Bollinger with Comfree. “The challenge for them is to force people to see what they’re going to ultimately produce here in five years. It’s kind of like selling a vacant house with no furniture in it.”
The construction project needs a special exemption from the city before going ahead without parking spaces.
