Paskapoo Slopes development coming together, but stores still not open

Just east of Canada Olympic Park, Trinity Hills is taking shape on the slopes of Paskapoo.

It's a mixed-use area developers hope will become a destination in Calgary.

"You'll hear more now because now we're gearing up to launch," said vice president of sales and marketing for Metropia, Lee Koutsaris.

"Now the retail is getting ready and people are going to be directing up there soon to go shop and be part of it."

There's the Town Centre, anchored with a Save-On-Foods, a PetSmart and attached pet hotel. Above additional retail, there are plans for more than 158 rental units along with underground parking to serve the area. It's planned to open in March 2020.

I would say that this is a new concept for Calgary,.- Mark Deon, Trinity Development Group

A second retail area, called the Gateway District, with active lifestyle businesses like Mountain Equipment Coop and Good Life Fitness is planned to open in November 2020.

The residential component townhomes will be advertised for sale soon, and Koutsaris said occupancy may happen by summer 2020.

Initially, some of the retail in the Town Centre was supposed to open by spring2019. But that anticipated timeline has come and gone. And that's because it has taken time to work with the city on traffic concerns and other details.

"I would say that this is a new concept for Calgary," said Mark Deon, senior vice president of leasing for the Trinity Development Group. "We're bringing urban out of downtown and into the suburbs, and we've been sort of focused on getting it right. And it takes time to do that."

There are two access points to the area. With an interchange the developers paid for and designed, two traffic circles, Deon says it will be capable of handling high volumes of traffic.

"Big volume is our expectation," Dion said. "There has been a lot of growth and there will be a lot of growth in the west part of Calgary and this site really will serve those new residents."

And the development is piggybacking off recreational facilities nearbylike WinSport and everything on offer at Canada Olympic Park.

When the development was first proposed there was a lot of opposition from some Calgarians because of the loss of wild lands on the slopes.

In total, developers purchased 260 acres of land from WinSport. Koutsaris says they are dedicating 160 acres of the remaining land to become park land.

And that park will connect the trails that already exist on PaskapooSlopes to trailheads in Trinity Hills.

The development was approved in 2015.