As stewards of the Rivers District Master Plan, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) and the Calgary Stampede have announced Truman as the development partner for the first hotel on Stampede Park in Calgary’s Culture + Entertainment District.
A Purchase and Sale Agreement is now signed between the Calgary Stampede and Truman, and Truman is actively engaged with a world-class international hotel brand partner to operate the hotel, which will be announced in the coming months.
Located on an approximately 85,000 sq. ft. parcel—the Truman hotel will be a full-service, 13-storey upper-upscale lifestyle boutique hotel with approximately 320 rooms, 15,000 sq. ft. of meeting and ballroom space, 14,000 sq. ft. of food and beverage offerings; including restaurants, a lobby bar, a coffee shop, and a roof-lop lounge with views of downtown. There is also a south-facing leisure terrace with an activity pool, jacuzzi and an outdoor bar; and an indoor swimming pool and fitness club.
CMLC and the Calgary Stampede have been working to advance hotel development opportunities for the past five years through challenging market conditions impacting hotel and financing requirements. In that time, CMLC and the Calgary Stampede have completed feasibility studies and site analysis on three potential hotel sites on Stampede Park and in The C+E, and have conducted extensive engagement with a range of interested developer partners on each of the sites.
“CMLC and the Calgary Stampede are proud to partner with Truman, who bring more than 40 years of exceptional building experience in Calgary to this much-anticipated hotel development right at the front door to Stampede Park,” says Kate Thompson, president and CEO, CMLC. “Hotel development has been a key priority for CMLC and the Calgary Stampede, and we’ve seen development interest in The District surge with the completion of the BMO Centre expansion, the groundbreaking of Scotia Place, and the opening of the new 17 Ave S.E. extension, which unlocked the potential of this site and created a unique hotel opportunity at the west entrance to Stampede Park and The C+E. Partnerships and development investments like this one are an indication of industry confidence and enthusiasm for our shared vision for this district, and we’re so pleased to see this project take shape.”
With a development value of approximately $330M, this hotel agreement and land sale represents substantial private developer investment on Stampede Park and marks the first full-service convention-oriented hotel built in downtown Calgary in 25 years, demonstrating significant confidence in the emerging Culture + Entertainment District. Truman’s investment is further anchored by the recent purchase of another C+E District development site at 15 Ave and Macleod Trail, which is in the development planning stages with announcements forthcoming.
As home to Western Canada’s largest convention centre since the expanded BMO Centre opened in June 2024, the Calgary Stampede is now drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to Stampede Park every year for meetings, conventions and special events, and upwards of a million more during its annual celebration each July. As a result, the city is experiencing a growing demand for hotel rooms, and hotels like this one, conveniently located directly next to the BMO Centre, are a timely response to that demand.
“This is an exceptional location for a hotel, allowing guests to just stay steps away from the action of The Culture + Entertainment District – whether it’s a convention, meeting or event held in the BMO Centre, a hockey game in Scotia Place, a concert in The Big Four Roadhouse, or the Calgary Stampede’s annual celebration of Western heritage and community spirit each July,” says Tony Trutina, chief operating officer, Truman. “As a family-owned Alberta-based developer, we are thrilled to partner with CMLC and the Calgary Stampede to bring this project to life in one of our city’s most exciting and fast-growing districts.”
Since the expanded BMO Centre opened in June 2024, it has hosted 409 events, with 205 major events booked between now and 2032, and is projected to contribute more than a quarter of a billion dollars to Canada’s GDP annually, with the majority supporting Alberta’s GDP. These numbers will only increase as hotel capacity in the area grows.
The partnership is working with architecture firms NORR Architecture (Chicago), Scatliff+Miller+Murray (Calgary), and CivicWorks (Calgary) to lead design and planning for the hotel. The hotel design is inspired by the unique curvature of Flores LaDue Parade and the expanded BMO Centre, with a sweeping curved form that draws inspiration from the movement of a bucking horse and materiality representative of both the rich identity of the Calgary Stampede and of Alberta’s landscape.
The next step in the process is to initiate regulatory approvals with a development permit submission expected to be submitted later in June, and prepare the site for construction, which is anticipated to begin in late 2025. Construction is anticipated to be completed in late 2028.
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