Building Big. Living Better. CMLC's 2025 Year in Review.

    · 7 min read

    For CMLC and our communities, 2025 was a year defined by progress, partnership and purposeful city-building. As we advanced the first year of our 2025–2029 Strategic Plan, our team—now more than 40 passionate city-builders and placemakers strong—continued to deliver on major civic infrastructure projects, support vibrant neighbourhood growth and apply our expertise to new opportunities across Calgary. With momentum building across East Village and The C+E, and in our evolving efforts in transit-oriented community development, 2025 marked another transformative chapter for CMLC and for the city we serve.

    East Village development momentum builds

    In East Village, development activity continued to accelerate as the neighbourhood moved closer to the full realization of its master plan vision. Leasing and move-in began at Alston Properties’ EV606, while five additional developer-led projects progressed through regulatory approvals with anticipated construction starts in 2026. Just beyond downtown, we celebrated the start of construction on Attainable Homes’ 230 affordable, townhouse-style homes at the David D. Oughton site in Albert Park/Radisson Heights.

    East Village will enter 2026 with its most active development pipeline since before the pandemic—evidence of the strong market interest and private investment our long-term revitalization work continues to attract.

    Of course, as development progresses and we prepare to welcome more new neighbours to the community, CMLC continues to invest in the public spaces and infrastructure that make East Village a vibrant community and compelling destination for visitors. In January 2026, we opened The Open, East Village’s public washroom and pickleball court, which has seen more than 35,000 visitors in its first year of operations.

    2025 Milestone Moment: Albert Park/Radisson Heights Housing Development Breaks Ground.

    A photo of Kate Thompson, President & CEO, CMLC (left) standing beside Jaydan Tait, President & CEO, Attainable Homes (right) holding shovels at the Albert Park/Radisson Heights attainable housing development groundbreaking media event on June 16, 2025.
    A photo of EV606 in East Village, October 2026.
    A photo of RadiCare washroom attendants outside The Open in early 2025.

    Calgary’s Culture + Entertainment District continues to take shape

    2025 was a landmark year for private investment in The Culture + Entertainment District. In July, we celebrated the announcement of three major hotel developments from Truman and Marriott International—the W Calgary and JW Marriott Calgary on Macleod Trail and the Autograph Collection hotel on Stampede Park immediately adjacent to the expanded BMO Centre. Together, these projects represent more than $1.4 billion in private-sector investment and will bring over 700 hotel rooms and 350 branded residences to the district.

    As The City advanced construction on Scotia Place and CMLC began design planning for the associated District Infrastructure, CMLC’s role in coordinating construction and access across The C+E became increasingly important. Working closely with partners at the Calgary Stampede, Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation and The City of Calgary, we supported efficient construction logistics and mobility planning throughout the year. Our newly updated C+E Access Map played a vital role in maintaining accessibility during major construction, seeing 200,000+ views in its first year and helping residents and visitors safely navigate a rapidly evolving district.

    2025 Milestone Moment: CMLC and Calgary Stampede Announce partnership with Truman for hotel development in The C+E

    L-R: Jyoti Gondek, former Mayor of Calgary; Joel Cowley, CEO, Calgary Stampede; Kate Thompson, President & CEO, CMLC; Tony Trutina, Chief Operating Officer, Truman Homes; George Trutina, President, Truman Homes
    A photo of the media event announcing the Autograph Collection hotel project on June 2, 2025.
    A rendering of the W & JW Marriott Hotels & Residences by Truman

    Major transformations advance in Calgary’s downtown core

    At the same time, CMLC advanced two major civic transformation projects in Calgary’s downtown core on behalf of our partners at Werklund Centre and The City of Calgary. Construction on the Werklund Centre Transformation (WCT) Expansion began in earnest in January, with work advancing through the year on foundations, secant walls and elevator banks.

    Meanwhile, the Olympic Plaza Transformation took important steps toward realization. In April, a public reveal of the design for the new Olympic Plaza shared our bold shared vision for the reimagined public space that will support year-round programming and honour Calgary’s Olympic legacy.

    Concurrently, the project team continued to advance design for the WCT Modernization, which will see the start of construction as funding is secured.

    2025 Milestone Moment: CMLC Reveals the Design for the Olympic Plaza Transformation project

    A daytime aerial rendering of the revitalized plaza shows a striking central water feature and splash pad, surrounded by flexible programmable space and vibrant green areas to support year-round gatherings and events.
    Delegates and guests celebrate the unveiling of the new Olympic Plaza Transformation design with “Olympic torches” to commemorate the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Front row, from left to right: Dr. Rose Crowshoe; Dr. Reg Crowshoe; Tanya Fir, Minster of Arts, Culture and Status of Women; Dave Werklund, Transformational Gift Donor; Alex Sarian, President & CEO of Arts Commons; Kate Thompson, President & CEO of Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC); Marc Hallé, Co-President, Landscape Architect, CCxA; Former Ward 7 Councillor Terry Wong, Ward 7; Catriona Le May Doan, Emcee

    Taking our city-building expertise down the line

    Beyond the Rivers District, 2025 marked CMLC’s first full year pursuing our vision for Transit-Oriented Community development beyond the Rivers District. We completed foundational work at three priority stations along the Red Line LRT—Dalhousie, Anderson and Fish Creek–Lacombe—including market analyses, site and servicing reviews, geotechnical investigations, and the start of our comprehensive community engagement program. We began the procurement process for planning teams for two of the three sites, enabling us to begin concept planning in early 2026. This work supports The City’s Home is Here Housing Strategy and represents an important expansion of CMLC’s role in enabling new housing opportunities on underutilized City-owned land.

    2025 Milestone Moment: CMLC completes phase one of engagement for three potential TOC sites — Fish Creek-Lacombe, Dalhousie, and Anderson.

    A photo of the Anderson LRT Stationhead.
    A photo of the Fish-Creek Lacombe LRT station and park and ride.
    A photo of Dalhousie LRT Station park and ride.

    Keeping our communities awesome

    As we have more than a decade, CMLC continued its investment in placemaking and programming, unveiling new artwork along RiverWalk by local muralist Alex Kwong, announcing our second ever Dog Mayor of The C+E, collaborating with partners on major events like the POW! Parade of Wonders, Night Light and Cirque du Soleil, and launching our new East Village Live event series.

    Throughout 2025, we also continued to invest in the safety and vitality of our communities. Together with our security, maintenance and social service partners, we continued to support a safe, welcoming and vibrant atmosphere in our communities. We launched the East Village Safe, Clean and Awesome app and dashboard. Learn more about our commitment to safety and vitality here.

    2025 Milestone Moment: CMLC reveals new artwork on RiverWalk

    A photo of artist Alex Kwong at the unveiling of his RiverWalk Mural series Kitao'wahssinnooni on June 27, 2025.
    A photo of mural subject Blackfoot Elder Rod Scout at the unveiling of Alex Kwong's mural series, Kitao'wahssinnooni on June 27, 2025. A central subject of the work, Elder Rod Scout also gifted the project its name, which translates roughly to “what sustains us.”
    A photo of the event set up for Summer Session, part of the East Village Live series on June 13 & 14, 2025
    A photo of The Backyard Betties at Celebration Square in East Village during Rock The Village, part of the East Village Live event series on April 13, 2025
    A photo of The Dog Mayor of The Culture + Entertainment District, Mud Pi and her owner, Churmy Fan at Pixel Park's skatepark after winning the election on October 26, 2025.
    A photo of the Safe, Clean and Awesome App on a phone with East Village skyline in the backdrop
    The East Village Safe, Clean & Awesome App launched in April 2025 and allows visitors, residents and businesses to submit cleanliness and maintenance concerns occurring in East Village.

    Ready for another year of ‘bigger and better’!

    As we look ahead to 2026, CMLC remains focused on delivering our growing portfolio of city-building projects—from major cultural transformations and public infrastructure to new mixed-use developments and transit-oriented communities.

    We’re grateful for the trust Calgarians continue to place in us and for the many partners who help us move this work forward. Together, we’re shaping a more connected, more vibrant, more resilient Calgary.

    Thank you for joining us on this journey. We can’t wait to continue building big and living better—together—in the year ahead.

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