Crossings (at The Bridges)

http://DiscoverTheBridges.com  The presentation centre at 824 First Avenue N.E. is closed but will re-open after a year or two waiting for the market to rebound.

Apex Cityhomes  in 2008 marketed this concrete 142-suite building--the first of two--which will be just steps from the Bridgeland-Memorial C-Train station. But that's not all the location offers, with large Bridgeland parks and playing fields just upland, plus the Bow River with its pathways and the zoo only a wander away across the C-Train's overpass of Memorial Drive. Downtown is close enough to touch, yet Bridgeland remains just a little removed from the hurley-burley inner-city atmosphere.

Apex will already be known to Calgary condo buyers as builders previously of the Union Square tower one in First Street Village, as it's coming to be known, in Victoria Crossing. In years gone by Apex has built the Newport Condos in Coventry Hills, the Courtyards in Garrison Woods, the two Renaissance towers at North Hill Mall and Stonehurst Place near the West Side Recreation Centre in Signature Parke, S.W.

One and two-bedroom suites at Crossings range in price from the $300,000s to over $600,000 as the project breaks ground in 2008. The first building will be energy efficient enough to qualify for a level of "LEED" designation. Amenities will include a large garden on the east side of the L-shaped building, a gym and an owners' lounge/theatre room with a 10'-wide screen.

The floor plans range from affordably small one-bedroom suites of 586 square feet to roomy two-bedroom homes of 1,200 square feet and penthouses of 1,400 square feet. Because the elbow of the building's "L" has a curved glass wall, a series of two-bedroom suites at that south-west and downtown-facing corner have a dramatic curved wall of window glass. Plans call for 4,500 square feet of at-grade commercial space, so lattes and such should be available just off the lobby before wandering to work downtown or heading for the C-Train station.

The first building will the south one, and will be terraced from from eight to 11 storeys, being tallest at the elbow of the "L" with those curved-glass-wall suites. The gardens will be on the east side, offering seating, a putting green and barbecue facilities plus flower and vegetable gardening if any residents are so inclined. The second building will mirror the first and extend north as an upside-down "L", doubling the size of the east-side gardens, although it will contain fewer suites; 130 compared to the first's 142.

To set the tone for the project and enliven its marketing, Apex commissioned a series of paintings of Bridgeland by Ilona Kostolansky, which I expect will some day hang in the lobby of the completed first building. Construction is to begin early in 2009, with completion of the first building in about two years. Exterior windows and doors at Crossings will be common property for maintenance and eventual replacement. I have the marketing material and floor plans on file. The Condo Plans will be registered upon each building's completion.