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Lifestyle perks draw people to city's core

Michelle Magnan, Calgary Herald
Published: Tuesday, January 1, 2008

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The main demographic we're going after is early 20s to late 30s, people who are out of university and working on their careers rather than working on starting a family," says Chad Hanas, director of sales for Cove Properties Ltd., the company developing the condominium buildings, named Nuera, Sasso and Vetro, along Macleod Trail.

Beyond that, another demographic group is moving into the new condo buildings: empty nesters.

Whether they're looking for a smaller home in the heart of the city, for low-maintenance living, or for nearby amenities such as great restaurants and theatres, empty nesters see value in moving closer to the core.

"The motivation (to move downtown) was so that I could be close to my job, but we're also close to everything else," says Tracy McKee, a 46-year-old human resources professional.

She and her husband, Wilf, 59, moved into their one-bedroom condo on the 15th floor of the Sasso building in June 2006.

"We love it. It's very convenient to our lifestyle because we're out a lot," she says.

Their lifestyle includes frequent jogging on the city's pathways, eating out at restaurants such as Fiore Cantina Italiana and Brava Bistro on 17th Avenue, and working out at the downtown YMCA.

Tracy says of all the couples they socialize with, she and Wilf are the only couple that lives downtown. But that's because most of their friends still have university-age kids who live at home.

"If I still had the kids at home, we wouldn't be downtown," she says.

Downtown is a hotspot for another type of person moving into the new condos: the part-time Calgarian.

"There's a surprising amount of people that I cross paths with like that, where they live in Calgary Monday to Thursday and they have another home in Canmore or Kelowna," says Hagerty.

Nick Clark, a 62-year-old professional, has spent many years living only part-time in Calgary. When work would draw him here, he'd stay at his condo in Eau Claire. When he wasn't here, he'd be travelling between Singapore, India, Seattle, his other home in Kelowna or his resort property in Whistler.

"It was ideal to have a residence here rather than to be living in a hotel," he says.

His company has grown and become more settled in Calgary, so Clark lives here on a more regular basis these days, spending about 20 to 25 nights a month in the city, as opposed to just 10.

He appreciates being close to everything from sushi and dim sum restaurants to Kensington and the YMCA, but he's disappointed the city's core seems to vacate on the weekends.

"The city's vibrant Monday through Friday, but Saturday and Sunday it's like a ghost town," says Clark.

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