The Future of Stephen Avenue: Downtown Calgary's Main Street

In Calgary, JLP+D collaborated with Gehl and Stantec on The Future of Stephen Avenue initiative, providing economic and real estate analysis, programming recommendations, and governance research and recommendations to unlock the potential of this underperforming but primary central business district corridor. JLP+D was an early advocate to the City for enacting legislation and funding for an ambitious office to residential conversion program focused on the centre city. The $155M program adopted is currently fully subscribed.

JLP+D focused on real estate, partnership, and organizational strategies that can help the Avenue better support the City’s Downtown Strategy and Economic Development Strategy, with the goals of diversifying the downtown economy, attracting new businesses, increasing downtown spending, and improving the quality of life for residents. JLP+D identified opportunities and constraints that impact the economic vitality and investment climate of Stephen Avenue based on stakeholder interviews and SWOT analysis, market and economic data and analysis; identified opportunities to generate economic value through connectivity among economic, social, and cultural assets; identifying potential real estate development opportunities, including multi-family residential, and barriers to downtown real estate investment, as well as public realm and placemaking opportunities along the corridor that will catalyze increased real estate investment and business attraction and greater vitality along the Avenue; supported the team in crafting a programming and activation strategy to attract a broader customer base for longer hours of the day, evenings, and year-round; assessed the potential value creation opportunities of new placemaking investments in public realm and infrastructure; analyzed value capture mechanisms; assessed existing governance framework for Stephen Avenue and downtown; identified best practices and case studies for downtown management in North America; and identified recommendations for a governance network and the organizational resources needed to properly implement downtown district management responsibilities.