Idle construction site irks S.W. neighbourhood

A giant hole of a construction site in southwest Calgary that was supposed to be high-end condos has community leaders calling on the city to do something about the long-stalled project.

The deep pit on Fourth Street between 20th and 21st avenues S.W. has been the site of on-again, off-again construction activity for eight years.

"It is a hazard, and it's an eyesore, and it damages the well-being of the community," said Natasha Pashak of the Cliff Bungalow-Mission community association.

Two different development companieshavetried tobuild on the site first condominiums and retail shops were planned, then an office block.

The land's current owner, Strategic Group, said it does plan to move ahead with construction, but there is no exact time-line.

"What we are trying to plan for is a completion date in 2012," said the company's director of development. But according to Pashak, allowing construction sites to sit empty for so long is unacceptable.

"The city has awarded building permits to companies that haven't been capable and aren't capable of completing the project, so it seems to me the city bears some responsibility," she said.

"It's not just in my community where there are stalled construction sites. And so that's a policy issue and that's something that needs to be addressed by administration."

As long as a company keepsa construction site safe, there isn't anything the city can do to kickstart development, said Ald. John Mar.

"The change needs to come from the Municipal Government Act. Once that's changed then the city would have the ability to say, 'listen we are going to take more direct action'."