COMMUNITY PROFILE |
DOWNTOWN SOUTH Seton is bringing urban living to southern suburbia BY ANDREA COX
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outed as Calgary’s next downtown, the new community of Seton in the city’s deep south is already beginning to hum with life. “Life in Seton is going to be about easy access to everything,” says Elton Ma, director, commercial at Brookfield Residential. He’s says that has been Brookfield’s vision from the project’s conception, a genesis that initiated close to 20 years ago, when the concept for Seton was born. “We wanted to be on the leading edge, creating a smarter community in the sense of providing the outlying areas with the types of amenities that you would find in a core situation,” says Ma. At the end of the day, Seton’s urban district will have 1 million squarefeet of retail space that will blossom into a multitude of offerings, from the Superstore (already open) to the Cineplex VIP Theatre — the first ever in Alberta (coming soon). There will also be High Street type pedestrian friendly stores, adding the pulsing vibe of local offerings — the kind of offerings that create community and foster urban planning success stories. Residents can expect vendors like Mountain Equipment Co-op and Tim Hortons to join the list of amenities already in place — the list is long for a community that literally is beginning to rise from the ground — Tommyfield Gastro Pub, Starbelly, Shoppers Drug Mart, Save-On Foods and Starbucks are all on scene now. “At the end of the day Seton will have everything that you would need to satisfy your daily necessities right through to your luxury wants and desires,” says Ma. The heart and soul of the district will be the Market Street District where the street oriented detail will meld with vertical mixed-used components — condominiums and apartments on the second level above the shops. Here, Brookfield has entwined many beautiful place making sculptures and light displays to add elements of architectural appeal. Part of Seton’s vision also entails office space in the form of a business park with over 1.5 million square feet of employment space. “We wanted to reverse some of the traffic flow so that people have job opportunities here and don’t have to go downtown everyday,” says Ma. Seton will have a definite impact on lives of residents of Calgary’s southernmost communities like Auburn Bay, Cranston, New Brighton, McKenzie Towne (all Brookfield
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communities), Copperfield and Mahogany (both by Hopewell Residential), which are all within a 10-minute drive. This development will likely change the way of life in the whole southern sector of the city. Certainly the new South Calgary Health Campus will provide a slew of job offerings as well as providing a solid central health amenity for every age group. The Marriot Hotel is also a significant employer in the area. Add to that the new YMCA, which will be one of the largest recreational centres in Calgary with its selection of ice and hockey rinks, pools, fitness areas, theatre space and public library and Seton will be fully self-contained. The YMCA is under construction now and is slated to open in 2018. The new LRT Greenline connection to downtown and beyond will transform the fabric and texture of the area. “We’d always planned Seton with the future LRT coming online,” says Ma, adding that it will really provide the connectivity to the south end of