Renaissance at North Hill

Two luxury-class towers rose here in 2002 and 2003, built by Apex Lifestyle Communities Inc., already known to Calgarians as builders of The Phoenician apartment condos overlooking Dalhousie Station Mall, Stonehurst Place townhouses and villas beside the (south) Westside Recreation Centre, and for having converted decades ago what today are the Hudson Lofts and Lewis Lofts in the Beltline. Since these Renaissance towers, Apex has built Victoria neighbourhood's Union Square, tower one, but had put off, in 2009, The Crossings project in Bridgeland.

The Renaissance towers offer Calgary's best views, perched as they are on the top of the north hill, giving many suites panoramic views of much of Calgary including downtown, and of the Rocky Mountains. The second big selling feature has been that these towers back on to the North Hill Centre mall so that residents can shop and pick up dinner without ever needing to don winter wear.

Built in two phases, east to west, the towers are one condominium corporation with shared amenities including 24-hour security, a gym, mini movie theatre, games room, hobby room, board room for social events and condo Board meetings, a library, a party room with full kitchen and two guest suites. The largest amenity, of course, is the mall, which was revitalized at the same time that the towers went up. Although a smaller shopping centre, it is bright, modern, and offers a nice array of groceries, shops, postal services and dining. Of course Lions Park and its C-Train station are right across Fourteenth Avenue and the local library is adjacent towards Ninteenth Street. The neighbourhood is called Briar Hill but some will also know the hilltop as Hounsfield Heights.

Both towers have irregular outlines that give suites a variety of interesting layouts with angled exterior walls and giving as many suites as possible access to the incredible views. In keeping with the luxury class of the development, suite floor areas tend to be large; virtually all of them over 1,000 square feet, with many in the 1,200-foot range, and penthouses extending up to 2,970 square feet.

The easterly Tower One has 92 suites and 135 titled parking stalls in the base, but not below grade. The west tower came a year later and houses 82 suites plus 104 titled parking stalls. The surplus of stalls allows the largest suites to own two or in a few cases three parking stalls. Of course there's also indoor visitor parking.

Exterior windows and doors at the Renaissance towers are common property for maintenance and eventual replacement (although not within our lifetimes!). I have on file the original marketing material, floor plans and two-phase Condo Plans.