The Fortress in the Dalhousie community of Calgary is located at 4944 Dalton Drive NW in the community of Dalhousie, just up the street from The Phoenician. The Fortress was built in 1977 and converted to Condominiums around 1991 when the Plan #9110973 was registered. The concrete and brick building consists of approximately 205 similarly sized apartment-style condos ranging from 700 to 875 sq. Ft. Most have a small galley kitchen with good utility.
The exterior grounds of The Fortress have more than enough parking, but I counted only 9 visitor stalls while observing that many of the snow laden and seemingly abundant, mostly outdoor, 259 assigned stalls sat, many unused across a very large parking lot. There are several large and ominous cement walls surrounding The Fortress, complete with crenellations, reminiscent of battlements atop a castle wall.
The three Dover elevators, lift passengers swiftly to their destination on one of the 17 floors. The Fortress is cement construction with brick exterior. It is situated directly on a bus route for convenient connection to the C-Train, University of Calgary, Children’s Hospital, or one of the nearby Brentwood Mall or Northland Malls.
The Fortress has a welcoming lobby and a number of amenities most notably the swimming pool and Tennis Court. At the time of my visit the pool was closed for renovations but a peek through the window indicated that they were nearly completed the task which was scheduled for December 2011. It all looked very nice.
The Fortress Amenities
3 Dover Elevators
Social Room
Swimming Pool
Sauna
Tennis Court
Coin-operated Laundry Facilities in the lower level
Exercise Room
The Fortress Parking
12 Visitor Parking Stalls out front
259 Assigned Parking stalls, mostly outdoor
The Fortress Inclusions
Water
Heat
The Fortress Restrictions
None Known
There are some post tension cables utilized in the construction of parts of the parking structure for The Fortress.
If you are planning a relocation soon, please don’t hesitate to call Mike, a seasoned, knowledgeable REALTOR®.
The well known Phoenician is one of the many adult condominiums in Calgary, which is well suited for seniors in particular. It’s not exclusively a seniors building, but it does have many features which are desirable to anyone looking for peace and quiet with a strong sense of community, in a beautiful setting, with oodles of amenities. The Phoenician is well managed, in a desirable location and holds it’s value well against many other condominium buildings in and around Calgary. Well behaved youth 18+ (Age restricted) are very welcome as well, just so long as they don’t create a disturbance, and tow the line.
The Phoenican is located at 5201 Dalhousie Drive NW. The first thing you’ll notice is the visitor drop off lane directly in front. You need not park on the street while waiting for a resident. The Phoenician has an east wing and a west wing, and four elevators. Once through the security door, you enter in on the main floor and are greeted by a large reception room, tastefully decorated in Victorian style furnishings. There is a small waiting area off to the left with a telephone, over by the mailboxes.
The Phoenician initially started out as a bare land condominium which was registered as the Phoenician I.
On December 23, 1997, the developer registered a subdivision plan #971239 for the initial construction of the west wing of the building, which called for 86 living units and 103 parking stalls on the west side. This wing is now commonly referred to as the Phoenician I.
On August 12, 1998, the Phoenician III was registered. Again this was a subdivision of the Phoenician I and today is commonly referred to as the Phoenecian II. This east wing is registered on Plan #9812220 and has 86 living units and 100 parking stalls.
Altogether, the Phoenician has 172 living Units and a generous 203 titled underground parking units. In total there are 10,000 unit factors, with each wing accounting for 5000 of them.
Each of the units comes with an assigned storage locker. The lockers are located on the parking level. The availability of parking is exceptional, albeit a little tight. All the parking is located on level “P”, so there’s no need to manoeuvre endless ramps and confusing turns to arrive there. You may access visitor parking outside by the parkade entrance (limited) or your guests may buzz you up at the parkade entrance to be admitted. Here they drive straight in to the section marked “Visitor Parking” in construction yellow about 3/4 of the way down. There are a full two rows, and I have never seen a shortage here.
The south-facing courtyards in the Phoenician are magnificently maintained and quite breathtaking. Access for the yards is available from either the ground level (Level 1) or from the Sundeck above. (Level M). Level M is on the ground level at the front of the building, and Level 1 is one down from that, but still on the ground level at the back. Level P is below that, and the units are contained on levels 1, 2, 3 & 4.
There are fire doors separating each wing from the central area. All doors in the Phoenician are accessed by use of a wallet sized electronic key. The unit doors have security dead-bolts, but have been installed upside down. This caused all sorts of problems during showings because cooperating Realtors are used to turning the key in the direction of the door jamb to lock. During the short time I had my unit listed, the door was thought to be locked twice, when actually the showing agent had actually unlocked it.
There are many amenities in the building, including a workshop for the handyman. You may have to use bring your own hand-tools.
Taking the spiral staircase down from the main floor, residents meet in the community gathering space for coffee daily. Coffee is served from the adjoining kitchen and is well attended.
Other amenities include a grand theatre, where residents gather weekly to view recorded movies. There is a car wash bay, work shop, and library, and as well an on-site manager takes care of the day to day things. The managers hours are from 10 to 4 on weekdays as I recall.
There are some important rules to know. A big one is that all deliveries must come to the delivery door and not through the front door!
Some of the units in the Phoenician are one bedroom and others are two bedroom. The two bedroom units come in two basic styles. One is the conventional apartment style, and the other is more non-traditional. The latter seems to fetch a higher price, and the south facing units seem to be the most popular. Some of the units have approved air-conditioners, which are installed on the balcony. The 2-bedroom units half two full baths, or 1 1/2 baths while the one bedroom units might have either one full bath, or a bath and a half. Some units have no parking stalls, others with one or two titled stalls. The stalls may be sold to anyone in the building as they are separately titled.
There are two guest suites which the residents can rent out for a reasonable fee, to visiting guests and family members.
The Phoenicianis conveniently located nearby the C-Train, Crowchild Trail, and a sizable shopping centre. The building on the east, across the street from the Phoenician is unrelated offices, built by the same builder.
Everyone that I have spoken with at the Phonecian, just loves it there, and I’m sure you will too.
If you would like to view any of the available one or two bedroom units for sale in the Phoenician, give me a call at 403-204-1111, and I’ll make it happen for you. I am completely familiar with this building.
