Chocolate

Chocolate was Battistella's 2006 opening statement on the First Street Village blocks: a 19-storey, 165-unit tower whose name, dark-toned facade and semi-industrial suites — exposed concrete ceilings, full-height glazing, real balconies — aimed squarely at buyers who found the era's beige towers interchangeable. Two decades on, it remains one of the Beltline's most distinct personalities per dollar.

The corner it anchors is prime daily-life territory: First Street's cafés and restaurants below, the station a six-minute walk east, and 17th Avenue's strip the same distance south.

Battistella Developments completed Chocolate in 2006, three years before its brighter sibling Colours, establishing the local developer's design-led niche in the quarter. The 19-storey concrete tower keeps a small footprint and a lean amenity program — a deliberate trade that has kept operating costs proportionate over two decades. City records and public sources agree on the 2006 completion.

Parkade parking with arrangements that vary by unit and purchase era; storage lockers likewise. Confirm both on title. The location makes car-light living genuinely easy — groceries, the station, two restaurant strips and the Elbow River pathway all sit inside a ten-minute walking radius.

Victoria Park/Stampede station is roughly 500 straight-line metres east — six to seven minutes on foot. First Street's village runs north from the door; 17th Avenue crosses two blocks south; the MacDonald Bridge puts the river pathway network within a short walk. Few Beltline corners cover the daily map this completely.

Chocolate sits at First Street Village's southern gate, where the restaurant row meets 17th Avenue's western reach — one of the Beltline's most complete small-radius lifestyles. Event-district crowds pass two blocks east on Stampede nights; the block itself belongs to café traffic and dog walkers. The pocket's scale is protected by its heritage streetscapes more than most of the district.

A 2006 reinforced-concrete tower now deep into its second reserve-fund cycle: the study's envelope, roof and elevator lines — and the record of what the corporation has actually executed — are the purchase's real disclosure. Check insurance deductibles alongside. The corporation's structural drawings, engineering records and reserve-fund study define the slab system and its maintenance history.

For Chocolate: the current reserve-fund study and capital-work history at the twenty-year mark; insurance terms; pet, rental and short-term-stay bylaws; and titled parking and storage by search. The loft-style character commands a premium over generic contemporaries — make sure the corporation's fundamentals support it the week you buy.