Founded in 1978, The Dobbin Group owns several commercial properties in the Kensington shopping district of Calgary, Alberta while partnering on multiple mixed-use commercial developments within the retail corridors of 10th Street and Kensington Road NW.
Our Blog
The Case for Density
Increasing density in the inner-city is a strong theme in Calgary’s MDP and Mayor Nenshi’s vision for Calgary’s future.
Without self-enforcing borders (like Vancouver’s mountains, or Toronto’s lakefront), Calgary continues to grow out into green-spaces, swallowing farming land and creating ever-expanding service requirements to meet new community needs. (more…)
A Little Guerilla Urbanism – Public Art & Music
The Dobbin Group is proud to have supported another public art installation at the 2014 Sun & Salsa Festival in Kensington. Paint and supplies were sponsored for the painting of the piano that now sits at the entrance to Container Bar and remains available for public use 24 hours a day. (more…)
Dobbin Group Building Featured in Swerve Article
Several of our iconic buildings, and our ‘Starbucks Patio’ were featured recently in a Swerve Magazine article about Kensington. We are proud to have such beautiful heritage buildings amongst our properties and we look forward to seeing you ‘out front’ enjoying them soon!
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Big Changes are Coming to Kensington!
A Kensington Streetscape Revitalization Project Update
The Kensington Business Revitalization Zone successfully lobbied the City of Calgary last year to have 2012-2013 surplus parking revenues designated for a Public Realm Improvement project to redesign and replace the streetscape of the commercial areas within the BRZ boundaries (10 street, Kensington Road and a portion of 14 street). The awarded $4.5 million will be used to address the ageing and damaged sidewalks, furniture, street-lighting and trees in the area. (more…)
The Importance of Heritage Preservation within Inner-City Commercial Corridors
In commercial areas such as Kensington, Inglewood, and Mission, the many turn-of-the-century building storefronts contribute to the character of fine-grained retail and walkability of the commercial districts. The retention and restoration of historical buildings in these areas creates a sense of community, a visible history and fosters a strong local identity that is unique to each area. When compared to the quantity of inventory of heritage homes in the same areas, it is clear that conservation efforts should be targeted on the more scarce commercial building resources. The same scale and location of these buildings that makes for such pedestrian-inviting streetscapes also attracts investors to assemble them into larger parcels for future development, which can mean a loss of these heritage buildings. (more…)
Historical Buildings Honoured with Bronze Plaques
Jan 16, 2014 – By Jennifer Dobbin
The Dobbin Group recently installed bronze plaques on their buildings along Kensington Road and 10th Street NW to celebrate the heritage of the buildings and area. As the owner of three original-built buildings in the Kensington area, preservation and modernization have gone hand-in-hand for many years.
The signs are mounted on 5 of our Kensington buildings including: The Dobbin House; Masonic Lodge (built 1926); Hillhurst Block (built 1911); Kensington Pub; and The Fresh Building (110 – 10 Street NW, built in 1919). Look for our plaques on the front facades of each building. (more…)
Moving Historical Homes – An interesting conservation opportunity
Aug 16, 2013 – By Jennifer Dobbin
With recent flooding in the Kensington area, many, many character homes were damaged with the flooding. However a new project in the area, the Memorial Drive Brownstones, is presenting an unique opportunity as the proposed development would mean the removal of 13 beautiful character homes.These homes could be moved to other community sites and preserved, even possibly to replace damaged existing character homes – these homes, although adjacent to the river were mercifully saved from flooding. (more…)