The great hole on Jasper Avenue is poised to become a non-hole, an un-hole — a hole that is no longer hole-like.
I can’t count the number of times people asked me this past term about that darn hole at 95th Street and Jasper Avenue.
The term has been four years long. The excavation is about the same age. The previous developer abandoned the site after digging the hole and shoring it.
That was bad. This is good:
A Calgary developer, Cidex, with experience building towers around North America, now controls the site and was just awarded a development permit.
In some ways, it’s early days. The development permit can be appealed.
But the proposed 24-storey tower, with 199 units, reinforces the confidence most of us have in the transformation of the greater downtown.
The building will sit on what is termed the Five Corners Site in The Quarters Area Redevelopment Plan.
If no appeals are filed, Cidex — a company with a solid reputation — plans to begin work on the tower’s foundation in November.
That’s all I know for now. That is the hole truth.
By Scott McKeen, City Councillor Ward 6