The recent approval of a massive Costco store will be the anchor of the Bingham Crossing retail development just outside of Calgary.
The project by Renco Developments Inc. is being described as a unique, state-of-the-art pedestrian-oriented shopping and lifestyle centre which will eventually include about 500,000 square feet.
The development is located in the Springbank area along the TransCanada #1 Highway and across the road from the amusement and entertainment facility Calaway Park.
Ron Renaud, Owner Rencor Developments, said he believes the Costco store will be the biggest in Alberta at about 170,000 square feet.
“We have a Phase One approved for total square footage of 270,000 square feet plus Costco,” he said.
The Development Permit has now been approved, with Costco scheduled to open its doors to its first Members in the Fall in 2025.
The overall project is about 300 acres and will eventually include a residential component to it.
“The massive amount of infrastructure that we have to build. Basically anything in Rocky View (County) at least in the Springbank area has no servicing. That’s why this thing has taken so long to get to this point. We’ve had to buy water licences, we’ve had to build a water treatment plant, we had to have a wastewater plant approved which we did. We’ve now changed that and we’re connecting to the Harmony line (another development nearby),” said Renaud.
“In total, it could be north of two million square feet but that would be a mix of retail, residential. We have approval for a seniors’ facility of about 240 units and we’re hoping to start that with Phase One. Costco is planning to start construction next year, open for 2025.”
Eve Renaud, Vice President of Rencor Developments, said depending on how Phase One is demised the total number of businesses could be anywhere from 50 to 90.
“We have the ability to do a grocery store and basically it will be that fundamental retail, that amenity retail, that you would come to expect in a town centre,” she said.
Costco would be the first retailer to open in the first phase of the development.
Ron Renaud said the company is hoping to start Phase One in early 2025 for a Fall 2025 opening or possible Spring 2026.
“The advantage that we have is there are no amenities. There are no services in Springbank right now,” said Eve Renaud. “Grocery stores, banks, medical/dental, QSR, a smattering of fashion. Other national retailers you would come to expect to see in a retail hub.
“So we’re really building from the ground up from a use perspective. Right now Springbank doesn’t even have a town centre per se. It’s a group of 35,000 people that don’t really have a place to go. It is a high street. We’ll have those services that everyone needs to congregate. A dry cleaner. A shoe repair. That type of thing.”
The vibrant open-air gathering place will provide access to high quality shops, dining, services and amenities in a village-like atmosphere. The first phase of Bingham Crossing will be 80 acres, including the development of a new senior’s housing complex and vast municipal green spaces.
“The location is pretty key and this is why Costco selected it. It really is regional. It’s located on a major highway which is going to go at some point to 10 lanes. With the opening of the southwest Ring Road, the amount of traffic that it’s going to generate will be pretty significant,” said Ron Renaud.
“It serves not only what I call West Calgary, but Springbank, Cochrane, Canmore, Banff. Basically anybody driving westward to the mountains or the mountain parks or any of those vacation spots are going to drive by this site. So it has a pretty key regional importance.”
He said Costco’s presence in the project is like the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.”
“It basically solidifies the regional location. The Costco guys are very excited about it. They’re expecting some very big things from the store. They’ve done well in the Calgary market.”
“It’s very important for our tenant mix for the surrounding property,” said Eve Renaud, “because having such a great regional draw really elevates the quality of retailer that we can attract in the centre. So it really will improve the tenant mix.’
Eve Renaud said Harmony is a new residential community three minutes away from Bingham Crossing which at full build out will be home to about 15,000 people.
“They have a very small component of retail. We work closely with them and they view that we will be the main amenity base for that community as well,” she added.
Ron Renaud said the company purchased the land in 2007.
“Everybody says why has it taken so long? The approval process was complicated and lengthy for everything we were doing . . . No potable water, no wastewater, no off-site improvements. All of that. And layer on top of that the approval process to get things approved. To get a development permit,” he said.
“There will be additional retail. We’ll bring forward other development permits to build out what I call the west quarter section which has the concept plan in place for over a million square feet. I think the majority of that will be commercial with some residential. The east quarter section lands will more than likely be a mix of different forms of residential development.”
