CD Plus Building
The current state/look of the CD Plus building on Barrington Street
Barrington Street’s facelift just went shopping for some expensive make-up. Yet another building is going to be completely rebuilt into a fantastic modern structure, effortlessly blending in with the historic brick turrets of the Khyber next door.
The 60 year old structure that used to house CD Plus is going to be demolished and rebuilt into a 6 storey, 10,000 square foot building. The main floor will be a retail space, with the remaining floors set aside for open concept office spaces, with the idea that it will be up to the businesses that ultimately occupy them to arrange the interiors to suit their needs. The building will then be topped off with a roof top patio.
Those that have read any of my development related blog posts will know that I am automatically 100% behind this development. Our downtown certainly has beautiful historic properties that need to be maintained, but if they are crumbling from the inside out then it’s time for them to be replaced by developers with vision and a modern approach to architecture. Which is exactly what’s happening in this case, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Construction is expected to start in 2012 (provided that the Mayans aren’t right and the world doesn’t end before then).
I’m not sure how much opposition this project received from the usual crybabies that resist change and cringe at the word “new”. The building is not very tall so the sacred views from the Citadel are not affected, and it’s only 60 years old so there’s not too much history to protect. Hopefully this means that everything will go ahead smoothly and we’ll have an exciting new modern building gracing Barrington Street in no time.
Here’s a rendering of what the project will look like upon completion, click it to enlarge:
Rendering of the rebuilt CD Plus building on Barrington Street
It will be a LOT better than what is there now, that is for sure. It looks like Barrington St. is finally starting to rebound back to its former glory days!
The trend is definitely there, especially with the new businesses opening up in the past few months – The Middle Spoon, Argyle Fine Arts, the North Face store… all steps in the right direction for sure.