BANFF – A new hotel is proposed for Banff.
The owners of Cascade Shops have applied for a development permit that paves the way to turn the third floor to apartment housing on the Wolf Street side and convert the top two floors of the Marten Street portion of the building from apartments to a hotel.
“We’re investing in Banff - that’s the bottom line,” said Robert Mckercher, president of Banff Cascade Development Inc.
“We have a long-term plan to continue to update and change uses to make for the best experience.”
The federal government put a cap on commercial development in the Banff townsite in 1998 to protect the surrounding national park from rampant development.
As of 2013, all commercial developed allotments had been allocated through a lottery, but not all have been completed. As predicted, most went to hotels, with the rest primarily being used for retail and restaurants.
But in the case of Cascade Shops, the commercial development allotment process does not apply because the owners are planning to move their commercial development around within the same building.
David Michaels, the Town of Banff’s development services manager, said the applications are for a change of use only.
“From a commercial standpoint, it’s like for like so there’s no increase in commercial floor area,” he said.
“The amount of commercial that’s being turned to residential and vice versa is exactly the same.”
Because both hotels and apartment housing are discretionary in this land use district, the change of use applications must go to the Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) for a decision.
Michaels said that will likely be at the October MPC meeting.
He said the Town of Banff is waiting to hear comments back from Parks Canada on the proposal as part of its standard development review process.
“Our assumption is that it’s going to be OK… this is literally a change of use,” he said.
“As far as we’re concerned, it’s just reallocating it within the same building.”
In addition, Cascade Shops has also applied for a development permit for a change of use to turn the space currently housing the Job Resource Centre into an eating and drinking establishment.
The Job Resource Centre, currently located in Cascade Shops at 314 Marten Street, is looking for a new home.
Mckercher could not confirm publicly at this time which restaurant will take over the space but said it’s an existing restaurant in Banff.
“The opening target would be next summer,” he said.
