BANFF – The Town of Banff will be one step closer to full commercial build-out once the leaseholders of the train station lands put forward their development proposals.
Town of Banff planners say the commercial development allotment for the train station lands is the largest unbuilt allocation remaining under the federally legislated commercial development cap.
Dave Michaels, manager of development services for the Town of Banff, said it’s anticipated the allocation will come up as part of Liricon Capital’s area redevelopment plan (ARP) for the railway lands.
“Obviously they are working through the ARP process,” said Michaels during the April 13 Municipal Planning Commission meeting.
In 1998, the federal government capped commercial development in the Banff townsite at an additional 350,000-square-feet on top of what then existed amid concerns rampant development was ecologically harming Banff National Park.
Following this decision, the Banff Community Plan contemplated a total envelope of 3.89-million-square-feet of development on commercially zoned lands in Banff and an annual rate of commercial growth of 1.5 per cent.
Commercial development rights have been handed by way of a random lottery system.
As of 2013, all commercial floor area had been allocated. As predicted, most went to hotels, with the rest primarily being used for retail and restaurants.
One third of the allotment is allocated to medium commercial developments between 46 square metres and 465 square metres, and two thirds of the allotment are allocated to large commercial developments of 465 square metres or greater.
The train station lands were awarded a medium allotment in the lottery.
However, Michaels said not all commercial development allotments handed out have been built yet.
“There is other developments that are yet to begin construction, and some that have been allocated, but we haven’t received applications for,” he said. “The largest outstanding being the last commercial development allotment, which was the train station.”
Some projects that won commercial space allocations in the lottery are still underway, including Banff Caribou Properties’ construction of a new 175-room hotel at the north end of Banff Avenue.
The local company received its final commercial development allotments in 2013, which in combination with commercial space credits from demolished buildings, allowed for construction of a 175-room hotel to replace Swiss Village and its adjacent cabins.
“They’re continuing with their development,” said Michaels.
“I don’t have any fixed estimation on when they anticipate to be complete, but I believe it’s into 2023 by the time it’s probably ready for occupancy.”
The nearby Banff Voyager Inn on the 500 block of Banff Avenue is also underway with its redevelopment plans.
In 2017, approval was given to Husky Energy’s transfer of unused commercial space from its gas station redevelopment to the Voyager Inn – the first time this happened under Banff’s growth management rules.
The Municipal Planning Commission approved the transfer of 362 square metres of existing commercial gross floor area from Husky to neighbouring Voyager Inn to allow for the construction of a new building with 10 hotel rooms.
Michaels said the planning and development department is expecting some changes to the Voyager Inn development.
“We anticipate that there might be some proposed changes, that they wish to scale back some of the original approval,” he said.
“That will be handled internally because it’s a reduction to what was originally approved and was a permitted use, being a hotel.”
On the housing front, the Town of Banff’s Aster below market home ownership development of a 33-unit complex on the 300 block of Banff Avenue and the YWCA Banff’s 33-unit Courtyard project for residents who face barriers to finding suitable accommodation are well underway.
Michaels said it looks like occupancy for the Aster could be early as this fall, while the Courtyard project is very close to completion.
“It’s great to see a lot of these projects come to fruition, to add housing,” said Michaels.
