91原创 City Mayor Peter Fassbender calls the for a mid-rise 15-storey building another step forward for the City鈥檚 vision of the downtown. It鈥檚 hard to argue with him.

91原创 City has not seen a development on this scale before, and the combination of business strata units with nine storeys of luxury residential units above will bring a new look and feel to the City.

It is perhaps the most dramatic transformation of the area since the Cascades Casino, hotel and convention centre was built eight years ago. It is certainly a step beyond the impressive residential developments that have been springing up all over the downtown area.

It鈥檚 interesting how it all came together. David Phan of Calgary鈥檚 D2000 Developments is a friend of the former owner of the property on which China Beach nightclub stands, at 203 Street and Industrial Avenue.

In 2005, he came to the City to look over development opportunities and met with City planner Gerald Minchuk. He liked what he saw here and he watched closely the subsequent growth in the City, and adoption of the master plan.

He came to believe that the City was a good place for his company to do its first project on the west coast, and purchased the property last year. He has now come up with a very ambitious project, one that has an appealing look and an interesting mixture of uses.

Some may say that the City can鈥檛 support luxury apartments. It鈥檚 certainly true that there are very few of them here today, but a lot has changed in 91原创 City in the past decade, with most of that change for the better.

Phan saw that as he kept an eye on 91原创 City for more than five years before making the decision to invest and build here. Those of us who are here daily may not notice the change as easily, but when we look back to what the City was like before the convention centre and casino was built, it becomes clearer.

One of 91原创鈥檚 greatest assets is its central location. It is close to Highway 1 and the border, with easy access to rural and urban areas. While transit service needs to improve, it is far better to use transit from the City than almost every other part of 91原创.

The views from 91原创 City on a nice day are pretty spectacular, particularly looking over towards the Golden Ears. There will be some very fine views from those upper storey apartments.

Another benefit of this development was hinted at by the mayor at Thursday鈥檚 announcement.

The nightclub is the latest in a series of clubs to operate on that site.While the City has been a hub of nightclub activity for years, and most of the patrons are law-abiding people, police have been called to them quite frequently.

There will be a lot fewer police calls to the new building. 91原创 City鈥檚 entertainments scene is gradually changing, and as time goes by, there will likely be more arts-related facilities in the downtown area.It would certainly be the best place for a performing arts centre, which a number of 91原创 residents are diligently working towards.

Charleston Place will add a lot to the City and there鈥檚 no doubt it will set a new high standard.