Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

[Mountain Man]

Trying to remember what it was supposed to be back in the day, I worked for the architect so I should know... lol There was definitely an office, hotel and residential portion, just can't remember how many buildings of each.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

It was 1 hotel, 1 office, and 5 residential. I think something like 2000 residential units total.

 

[DougB]

^One of the most prime sites that I want to see developed DT - I hope there is some fire with this smoke

Proposals for that site have historically been a leading indicator of a real estate crash

 

[CBBarnett]

Proposals for that site have historically been a leading indicator of a real estate crash

This one and redeveloping Eau Claire - they always get to proposing a cool multi-tower mega project a few months before a global financial crisis that shelves plans for another decade.

No renderings yet - so the economy has at least another year before a giant crash

 

[zzkwilliamcanada]

This one and redeveloping Eau Claire - they always get to proposing a cool multi-tower mega project a few months before a global financial crisis that shelves plans for another decade.

No renderings yet - so the economy has at least another year before a giant crash

can we just move the glenmore landing project to here?

 

[outoftheice]

So apparently the cost of that naming rights sponsorship deal with Cowboys for Millennium Park is the City of Calgary allowing them to pave over the entire green space so that Cowboys can pop up their Stampede tent there.

This pisses me off given how little park space exists in the downtown core, how many surface parking lots do actually exist that could be used to host the Cowboys tent and how the deal was sold to Calgarians as a way to pay for park improvements. Paving the park is something I would hardly refer to as an improvement.

Calgary Bluesfest organizers angered over plans to pave park

Organizers at the Calgary Bluesfest say they are furious after learning about plans to pave much of the green space at Cowboys Park.

calgary.citynews.ca

 

[Nimbus]

Unbelievable, and yet somehow believable in this city.

 

[Mountain Man]

How many people actually use the green space? Not defending that slimeball Vickars, but lots of festivals use this space and having concrete might be a benefit to that. Are Cowboys paying for it, or are tax dollars?

 

[lemongrab]

How many people actually use the green space? Not defending that slimeball Vickars, but lots of festivals use this space and having concrete might be a benefit to that. Are Cowboys paying for it, or are tax dollars?

The article implies the city, though I'm sure they'd argue it comes out of the sponsorship. But looking back to that announcement there was no dollar figure announced.

Only thing I could find related to dollars was this:
https://livewirecalgary.com/2024/11/25/calgary-2025-budget-extra-investments-not-approved/

Cowboys Park upgrades – $4 million: Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp wanted $4 million in funding for Cowboys Park capital upgrades to be removed from the budget with a request for more information to be provided in Q2 of 2025 before further funding would be approved.

City administration warned that it could have an impact on an already approved sponsorship agreement for the park. Further, some of this was life-cycle maintenance that would need to be completed in the area.

This was defeated.

Yikes...this isn't passing the sniff test. It seems unlikely Cowboys is paying $4M over 10 years...and who knows if there is an annual site fee?

IIRC Scotiabank paid $10M in 2010 for 10 year naming rights on the Saddledome (but I can't find a source to verify). Accounting for inflation, do we think a Cowboys Park sponsorship is worth ~30% as much as the Dome? Which would only mean getting these supposed upgrades for 'free'.

 

[darwink]

So apparently the cost of that naming rights sponsorship deal with Cowboys for Millennium Park is the City of Calgary allowing them to pave over the entire green space so that Cowboys can pop up their Stampede tent there.

Given the park will need to host events of the former Olympic Plaza, and Millennium Park, I think it is inevitable.

 

[Nimbus]

It's inexcusable in our current climate to give up green space like this for asphalt.