167-unit development would normally have 100 parking spots but Calgary relaxed rules

Officials held a groundbreaking ceremony for the N3 Condo, a development in the East Village that will feature bike parking but no parkade. (Scott Dippel/CBC)

Developers had a ceremonial groundbreaking Tuesday for N3, a condo building in the East Village that will not have a parkade.

The 167-unit building is slated for the lot directly east of the St. Louis Hotel, which is now being renovated.

A building of its size would normally require about 100 stalls on-site. But city council voted earlier this year to relax its rules and allow the project to go ahead with no underground parking.

N3 buyers will be given a Biria bike and a $500 credit to Car2Go and Enterprise Rent-A-Car in lieu of a parking spot. (Knightsbridge Homes )

Most of the project's buyers are younger people who plan to live car-free, says Joe Starkman, president of Knightsbridge Homes, which is partnering with Metropia and Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), the city-owned master developer of the East Village redevelopment program.

"I think we're running about 60 to 70 per cent of our purchasers are the millennials, the market we were after," he said.

"So these are the early 20s to early 30s, cars aren't that important. They still need to get around, but it's not a priority to own a car. They live and work, they want to live and work downtown."

Units start at $199,900 and average around $270,000. 

Every buyer will get a Biria bike and a $500 credit to Car2Go and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the developer says. 

Construction will take about 14 months, shorter than normal for a building of this size because there's no need to dig a hole for a parkade.