ITC Construction rises to new heights
The southwest corner of 10th Avenue and 8th Street S.W. is the centre of lots of action as the former home of West Canadian has been demolished and work begun on the construction of a sleek, 34-storey condominium tower that will dramatically alter that emerging area of the Beltline district.
Mark on 10th will also contribute greatly to the city’s plans to make 8th Street a major pedestrian artery from 17th Avenue S.W. to the Bow River.
It is a slim tower offering 270 units above main floor retail and a second floor of commercial office above which will be a 17,000-square-foot garden with open lawn areas, shade trees and pathways. The rooftops of the 33rd and 34th floors will provide condo owners with a fitness club and lounge, yoga studio, hot tub and kitchen/bar/barbecue area.
On the hoardings around the site is a sign that names the builder as ITC Construction Group, the firm’s fifth project for developer QualexLandmark in this city. Both Vancouver-based companies, they form part of a very successful team along with west coast Rafii Architects and Calgary’s BKDI Architects that have completed Nova, Stella and Luna residential towers on 12th Avenue S.W., and are also building Calla across from the Lougheed House at 14th Street and 11th Avenue S.W.
Qualex-Landmark has earned an enviable reputation in Vancouver as a quality developer, and when it entered the Calgary market, ITC, which specializes in the construction of concrete residential high rises, opened an office here.
Al Stowkowy is executive vice-president, Alberta division of ITC Construction Group, and he says the company will continue to focus on its proven capabilities with highrise projects. He currently has 15 staff working in his Calgary office plus crews in the field, and recently opened an office in Edmonton that is building a mid-rise, concrete 12-storey seniors’ facility called Our Parents Home for the city’s Jewish community.
Since establishing in Calgary, besides the Qaulex-Landmark towers, ITC has built Xenex on 12th, an 18-storey tower of 150 units above 4.5 levels of parking, and the 34-storey first tower of the Arriva development in Victoria Park.
ITC was responsible for the two highrise buildings that make up Louise Station, the La Caille Group development on 4th Avenue S.W. consisting of affordable housing and one tower of market value residential suites plus a fire hall.
Stowkowy’ steam has already made a good penetration in this market in the few years since it came to Calgary. Besides the two Qualex-Landmark properties it is building a third tower at Glenmore Gardens and the first two towers of University City, the huge development across from the LRT station at the Brentwood Towne Centre shopping mall.
It will build the premier 18-storey First condo tower in East Village for Fram+Slooker, and next spring ITC will begin constructing 120 condos and two-storey town houses at Sobow, the M2i Development project in Inglewood.
Lisa Vettesse, director of Calgary Bride, introduced a new annual wedding magazine at Olives Restaurant earlier this week. The first issue of Luxe will be available on newsstands Dec. 17, with the second cover becoming available in July 2013.
Century Homes Calgary, a grassroots project launched and led by a group of volunteers to celebrate homes constructed during Calgary’s first building boom, has received the Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Community Planning.
The award recognizes programming developed by volunteer-led heritage, community and cultural organizations at the grassroots level; the Calgary 2012 project involved 500 historic homes and engaging they people who live in them to research their history and display their love of them.
Cynthia Klaassen, co-chair of the project and president of sponsoring organization Calgary Heritage Initiative, says it became about community building as much as heritage and it was great to see people discovering history from their neighbours.