Year in review 2019

CMLC 2019 year-end newsletter

CMLC has been enthusiastically shepherding exciting city-building and placemaking projects in east Calgary for more than a dozen years now. Our achievements to date in East Village, east Victoria Park and beyond have emboldened and inspired us to sustain that momentum through 2020 and onward.

While we reflect on all that’s happened in 2019, we’re looking ahead with great optimism to the coming year and to seeing our plans for greater vibrancy, diversity and human energy in downtown Calgary’s east end come to fruition.

Looking back…

The past 12 months were, once again, chock-full of exciting milestones and significant accomplishments as we continue to reimagine downtown’s east end. From major project go-aheads to vital infrastructure work, new buildings (starting and finishing) and lots and lots of groundwork laid for the next wave of development, CMLC spent the year with plenty on the go!

2019’s highlights included securing project partners to transform the David D. Oughton site into a multigenerational mixed-use development; celebrating the opening of two new mixed-use buildings in East Village; welcoming five new retail tenants; finalizing the detailed design work for a multi-part infrastructure improvement project for 17th Avenue SE and the Victoria Park/Stampede CTrain station; and completing early preparations for two transformational projects in east Victoria Park—the BMO Centre expansion and the city’s new event centre.

As development manager for both these projects, we are beyond delighted that they will soon be taking shape on our doorstep. Upon their completion, our vision for the area as Calgary’s Culture and Entertainment District will truly be a reality.

We have deep respect and gratitude for the tremendous work and collaboration by our many esteemed partners over the past year. Their focus and hard work are invaluable in making our great communities even better.

Looking forward…

Perhaps most significantly in 2019, we did a lot of behind-the-scenes work to get the ball rolling on several projects that will break ground in 2020.

Over the next 12 months, we’ll be busy preparing for numerous construction and renovation projects around East Village, east Victoria Park and parts beyond. To help focus our efforts, our team worked diligently over the fall to solidify our mission and goals and clearly articulate our organization’s strategic priorities for the coming years. The result—CMLC’s 2020 Business Plan and 2020-2024 Strategic Plan—is available online.

To give you a taste, here’s a partial list of the projects we’ll see completed in the coming year:

• New and innovative parking spaces for East Village, Kensington and Inglewood
• A new bridge over the Elbow River for 9th Avenue SE
• A renovation and modernization of East Village Place
• Building Hall F, the new BMO Centre structure that’ll enable business continuity during the venerable centre’s expansion

More details are available in our 2020 Business Plan and 2020-2024 Strategic Plan.

Looking inward…

With our long-term president and CEO Michael Brown stepping down, we extend our tremendous gratitude to him for so deftly steering the CMLC ship over the past eight years. He’ll be truly missed, and we wish him all the best in the future.

Come the new year, Kate Thompson (CMLC's Vice President of Development since 2013) will take the reins as our new president and CEO. We know Kate’s expertise, uncompromising standards and unwavering commitment will serve CMLC well through the next phase of our evolution.