It’s been four years in the making, but major plans for the Lougheed Town Centre area are now getting to the reality stage.
On Monday, city council forwarded the Lougheed Town Centre Core Area Master Plan to a public hearing set for Feb. 23.
It’s one of the last stages of an overall plan that will bring a dramatic change to an area originally developed in the 1960s.
The Lougheed plan includes seven “unique” neighbourhood precincts that will be connected to one another with a network of pedestrian and bicycle-friendly streets and public open spaces, according to a staff report.
Austin Road would become a vibrant, pedestrian high street, according to the report, and North Road would be a landscaped retail street. Cameron Street would be a mixed-use area with retail shops and townhouses.
Other plans include a grand promenade connecting Cameron Street to a transit plaza. The promenade would be the main outdoor shopping destination.
A new area, Cross Creek, would be an east-west connector and a pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare.
A pedestrian spine would be a weather-protected shopping area, while Bartlett Court on the western side of the property would primarily be a residential street.
A large park and urban plaza space would be at the heart of the Lougheed site, the report stated.
Other public spaces include the transit plaza; Creekside, which pays homage to Lost Creek; pocket parks along North Road; the Cochrane Steps from North Road to the grand promenade; and Lougheed Highway.
The plan includes 11.1 million square feet of residential floor space, which could translate into 11,000 new dwelling units, and 12 million square feet of retail, commercial, office and entertainment space, according to the report.
