RIVER HEIGHTS PLACE ADDS RETAIL SPACES TO SOUTH COCHRANE
Cochrane has been recognized as the fastest-growing community in Canada, and its neighbourhoods on the south side of the Bow River among the fastestgrowing residential areas in Alberta.
River Heights alone is expected to be home to about 14,000 people and Southbow Landing will attract several thousand more.
Last week, Cochrane Mayor Jeff Genung helped Ocgrow Group of Companies president Harish Consul launch construction of the $18-million River Heights Place, a 35,000-square foot retail project designed by BRZ Architecture.
A Calgary developer and venture capitalist, Consul has been involved in the residential and commercial real estate industry for 30 years. His income and development portfolio is mostly focused on Vancouver and Calgary properties.
Consul bought the 1.65-acre parcel of land south of Cochrane Dodge four years ago, believing the new shopping plaza would be welcomed by residents in that area.
Bow Valley High School is already open in River Heights and a K-7 school has been approved one block from the site. Residents are also excited construction of the Bow River Bridge is expected to start by summer’s end. The span will connect Griffin Road, near the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, to River Heights.
Consul’s decision has proved to be a right one even as Ocgrow’s own construction company begins work on the site. River Heights Place is already 80 per cent leased through Colliers International senior associate Brendan Keen.
Contracts have been signed for a Petro Canada gas station, Subway, Domino’s Pizza and Liquor District on the main floor, and above the space has been leased to a Calgary-owned preschool daycare called Genius Kids, which already has a waiting list, and an 8,000-square-foot fitness centre.
NEWS AND NOTES
■ Fraser Abbott, director of business development for Hotel Arts Group, tells me things are picking up in the hospitality industry and mentioned the 185room Hotel Arts has completed a renovation project that saw the refurbishment of 28 rooms in the area above Yellow Door Bistro and Raw Bar. It’s the first hotel to use a new modular wall system produced by DIRTT Environmental Solutions that gives the rooms effective soundproofing and improves maintenance.
■ ATB Financial chief economist Todd Hirsch and director of innovation Mike Brown are the featured speakers at the Ireland Canada Centre for Commerce meeting at the Westin Calgary on April 27. They’ll discuss how cryptocurrencies could revolutionize our current economic structure through disruptive economic innovation.
■ The University of Calgary has appointed John L. Brown as its new dean of the Faculty of Environmental Design. Brown joined the architecture program in 1985, with a teaching and research focus on residential design and architectural entrepreneurship. He is the founding principal of Housebrand Construction and co-founder of Slow Home, an international movement that advocates for better home design.