Tsuut’ina First Nation announced plans Monday for a massive series of commercial developments along a 10-kilometre stretch of Calgary’s future southwest ring road.
“Tsuut’ina will be home to one of the largest, if not the largest, First Nations developments in Canada,” Chief Roy Whitney said in a release detailing the plans.
Working with Canderel, a Montreal-based development firm, the First Nation plans to undertake three major projects:
- Tsuut’ina Park is a planned entertainment, hospitality and retail development on about two square kilometres of land located south of Glenmore Trail between 37th Street and Sarcee Trail S.W. It would complement the existing Grey Eagle Resort and Casino in that area.
- Tsuut’ina Crossing would be built on about 1.5 square kilometres east of the ring road and west of Calgary’s Oakridge community, stretching from the south end of Weaselhead Park to Southland Drive. It is to include a “major innovation and research campus” at the north end and an “integrated health and wellness area” at the south end, along with retail, office, and mixed-use developments in a “spectacular natural setting.”
- Tsuut’ina Centre is intended to support a “major regional retail and commercial centre” on 1.5 square kilometres directly south of Bullhead Road and north of Fish Creek Provincial Park. The centre is to be “integrated with the administrative and community services of the Tsuut’ina Nation.”
“Collectively, the three precincts will offer significant long-term employment opportunities for Tsuut’ina citizens, its neighbours, and many people in the Calgary region,” the nation said in a release.
A still image from a promotional video depicting artistic conceptions of the planned mixed-use component of the proposed development. (Canderel/YouTube)
Canderel chairman and CEO Jonathan Wener said “Tsuut’ina has been quietly, diligently and effectively working on this project for years” and he sees the undertaking as a “prudent investment for long-term development.”
“The development potential of lands that abut the City of Calgary and will soon be accessed by the ring road is enormous,” Wener said in a release.
Tsuut’ina aims to begin construction within two to three years.
Canderel released this video detailing the project’s vision:
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