City of Calgary, Stampede, province, and others release final event centre agreements

The City of Calgary and it’s partners have released the final agreements for the new event centre and other improvements to Calgary’s Culture + Entertainment District, it said Thursday.

Much of the information in the agreements won’t be new for those who’ve followed along, according to general manager of infrastructure services, Michael Thompson. He explains much of the information was made public back in October.

According to the agreement, the Event Centre Block is almost 40 per cent bigger than the previous deal, which the city says was a more “restrained” space and only provided a building and one outdoor plaze.

The block will house the event centre, indoor and outdoor community plazas, and a community rink, among other things.

Calgary’s new event centre is the most expensive part of the redevelopment, coming in at $800 million, while the community rink comes with a pricetag of $52.8 million

The parkade will cost $35.4 million, according to the city, while the outdoor community event plazas come in at $28.7 million.

The indoor community plaza totals $9.5 millon. the agreement says.

All in, the project costs $926.4 million. Calgary will pay the largest share, at $515.3 million, followed by Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) at $356 million, and the Province of Alberta at $55.1 million.

Infrastructural changes are also being made to accommodate the project.

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One of those is an additional and previously planned connection between East Village, Inglewood, downtown, and the new Culture and Entertainment District via the 6 Street SE underpass.

The city says this will support movement in the future residential areas, including those walking, biking, and driving in and out of the new district during events at the event centre, BMO Centre, and Calgary Stampede.

Changes are also being made to 5A Street SE, 15 Avenue SE, 17 Avenue SE, and 25 Avenues SE to accomodate public events as well as connections for people walking, biking, and driving.

Improvements to the Culture + Entertainment District ring in at a cost of $296.9 million.

The event centre project is an agreement between the City of Calgary, CSEC, the Province of Alberta, the Calgary Stampede, and the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC).

The agreements outline three streams of funding that the city will receive from CSEC over the 35 year term which include: 748.3 million (a present value of $356 million) with $40 million upfront and a $17 million annual lease payment, escalating 1% per year, future land sales including four properties identified for redevelopment, and the future sale of Victoria Park Bus Maintenance Facility, and $52.5 million with a $1.5 million annual payment to community sport funding.

All revenues streams, which include ticket surcharge and naming rights, within the Calgary Event Centre Block, have been put together into one lease payment to the city – $17 million per year for 35 years. The lease payment escalates by 1% per year over 35 years.

Once the 35-year term is completed, CSEC will have contributed $748.3 million, the city says.

This means CSEC assumes the operations and revenue risk in exchange for any potential upside returns. It minimizes risk to the city from being exposed to multiple types of and unpredictable revenue streams over a longer 35-year term.