News

Harvard Developments has reached an agreement in principle with the City of Calgary for a portion of land within the Eau Claire Market area to house a future underground Green Line LRT station at 2 Avenue S.W.  

As a result of this agreement, the main Eau Claire Market Shopping Centre will remain open and continue regular operations until mid-Q2 2024. It will then be turned over to the City for demolition to make way for station construction and future development. JOEY Eau Claire and LOCAL Public Eatery will be unaffected and will continue operations indefinitely after the Market closes. 

With Phase 1 of the Green Line LRT from Shepard to Eau Claire moving forward, Rosanne Hill Blaisdell, President and CEO of Harvard Developments, believes the final piece is in place for a mixed-use, transit-oriented development.

“We acquired this property in 2004 not for what it was...but with a vision for what it could be. We believe this site, with an LRT station, has the potential to be a key component in the transformation of downtown. We remain committed to engaging with the City, downtown community stakeholders, and our neighbours in delivering a destination that Calgarians are proud of.”

Darshpreet Bhatti, CEO, Green Line LRT.

“Green Line was designed as a city-shaping project, and there is no greater example of that than the opportunities for future transit-oriented development at this site. This is a critically important station along the 46-km future alignment and will bridge the Eau Claire and Chinatown communities and connect Calgarians to a treasured part of the city.”

Harvard’s project team and the City of Calgary advised tenants of the project’s future at an information session earlier this week.

“While we view this as a time of optimism and revitalization, we also understand this infrastructure initiative will require closure and relocation of the 50+ businesses who call Eau Claire Market home,” commented Rosanne Hill Blaisdell.  “We value our relationship with our tenants, so it was important to give them as much notice as possible to ensure a smooth transition for their business. We intend to support our retailers over the remainder of 2023 and early 2024 to encourage continued customer traffic at Eau Claire Market.” 

The next phase of Eau Claire’s transformation includes revised planning applications which reflect the site's changing nature and accommodate the new station. An updated Land Use Redesignation Plan, Area Redevelopment Plan (ARP) and a Subdivision Application have been submitted to the City with anticipated approvals by mid-2023.  

For more information on the Green Line LRT Project or the plans for the area, please visit calgary.ca/greenline or eauclairestation.ca.