The Tsuut'ina Nation Development Strives for Longevity

As most of us know, our Sister City - Calgary - has long had a development plan that would create a ring road around their City, similar to our Anthony Henday Drive, to connect all areas of the City and link up with Deerfoot Trail (aka the Queen Elizabeth Highway).  The lions share of this road was completed from the time the plan was created in 1970 to current day, however there was a holdup in completing the road as approximately 10 kilometers will pass through the Tsuut'ina Nation on the Southwest corner of Calgary.  In 2013, a historic agreement was made between the Tsuut'ina Nation and the Province of Alberta to facilitate the completion of the Ring Road.  The final piece of the puzzle occurred in the summer of 2016 when the Tsuut'ina Nation partnered with renowned developer Canderel to create a commercial development Master Plan that would bring social and economic prosperity to the community for generations to come.

 

Canderel and Tsuut'ina First Nation Partnership

This 1,240 acre development project will be one of the largest (if not the largest) First Nation developments in Canada.

"This is why Tsuut'ina people, after much debate and voting, decided to approve the construction of the southwest Calgary ring road — not because of immediate cash benefits, because those are fleeting, but precisely because of a vision of what could be built in the traffic flow throughout our land." - Chief Roy Whitney (CBC.ca)

Construction on the Ring Road has already commenced, and the commercial components through the Partnership will begin in 2018-19 in three distinct phases:

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.  (CBC.ca)

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."  (CBC.ca)

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."  (CBC.ca)

The Partnership will allow the Nation to effectively and successfully develop the land surrounding the Ring Road in order to create opportunity and prosperity for future generations.  

I'm looking forward to seeing how Southwest Calgary comes alive due to this forward looking agreement between Canderel and Tsuut'ina First Nation.