Calgary is one step closer to extending more western hospitality to Stampede Park with the announcement of a new hotel.
“There has been a lot of public investment in the area – the expansion of the BMO center and all the infrastructure in and around it – but to have private investment in the area really shows a change and a belief in the district, ” Kate Thompson, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation CEO, said.
Matthews Southwest Hospitality has been announced as the development partner for what will become an $80 million, 220-room, 4- to 4.5-star hotel.
It is the first hotel in the park to play host to the summer festival billed as “the greatest outdoor show on earth.”
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“Obviously we’re very well known for the 10-day festival, but we operate the other 355 days of the year,” said Joel Cowley, CEO of Calgary Stampede. “We book and host events year-round with the Calgary Stampede and the expansion of the BMO Center really allows us to dig into the convention business.
“We do have conventions now, but this will put us on the map as an international convention destination.”
Matthews, CMLC and the Calgary Stampede will be development partners for the project.
Matthews’ portfolio includes work on the Omni Dallas, a convention center headquarters hotel in the Texas city, the New Orleans Convention Center Hotel and the W + Element Hotel in downtown Philadelphia, Penn.
Matthews was also the developer behind the Bow and Transcanada Pipelines towers in downtown Calgary.
“We have been working with Stampede and CMLC for years. And I’m telling you, the people at both of those locations were just the best to work with,” said Michael Garcia, president of Matthews Southwest Hospitality.
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“Going forward, this is a partnership and so we will look to them to guide us as we move along the path of development.”
Award-winning architectural firm Nunzio Marc DeSantis Architects will design the hotel. Garcia said the design will take its cues from the city and region.
The hotel will sit on the southwest corner of 12 Avenue SE and Stampede Trail, at the north entrance of Stampede Park. Design, financing and permits are the next steps of the process, during which the hotel brand will be chosen.
An aerial view of the grounds of the new hotel at Stampede Park in Calgary.
handout / CMLC
Cowley said the BMO Center already has 20 conventions booked for after the expansion making it a tier one convention center. These discussions extend to 2028.
“We have others who have indicated that they want a hotel before booking here. Some of those say we would at least want a convention or a convention headquarters hotel where our staff could stay. Others say we want most of our participants to stay within walking distance,” said the Stampede CEO.
“It will make it a lot easier for our sales people to go out and sell this facility for conventions with that hotel support.”
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Thompson said Matthews remained committed to the project after the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic emptied hotels, as well as the late 2021 setback around the event center.
“(Matthews) is still here and they believe in the vision of the district. So it had a bigger influence than any other smaller work in and around, or the discussion about the arena,” said the CMLC’s CEO.
“We’re really hopeful that a signal like (the arena) of public investment in the area really highlights the potential of the cultural and entertainment district.”
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