The Story of the Year in Rocky View is the ongoing success of Balzac as an industrial and commercial hub.
It seemed a month hardly went by over the past few years when Balzac wasn’t making headlines for attracting new businesses or other major enterprises to the region.
Balzac’s success just kept rolling in 2024 with Keurig Dr Pepper Canada (KDP Canada) announcing on July 22 it would be following Walmart’s and Voilà’s examples in opening a new national distribution centre there. SkyCastle Family Entertainment Centre’s (FEC) new roller rink also opened at the New Horizon Mall (NHM) in Balzac mid-July.
In November, it was announced that eStruxture, Canada’s leading AI and hyperscale-ready data centre provider, will be committing $750 million to build Alberta’s largest data centre in Balzac. The facility, called CAL-3, is envisioned as a 90-megawatt facility that will be located just north of Calgary in Balzac, and is slated to open in the fall of 2026.
Dollarama later announced in early December that its new multi-million dollar warehouse and distribution centre is slated to open in Balzac in 2027.
According to the Western Investor, what is driving this Balzac push is simply the fact it has the right volumes of land available in its industrial park for major enterprises, and its close proximity to Calgary.
Vacancies marketwide averaged 3.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, while availability sat at 5.3 per cent in the Calgary area for industrial serviced land. But Balzac continued to have the highest vacancy rate of 5.5 per cent.
“The situation is likely to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future as 64 per cent of the 2.7 million square feet under construction in the Calgary market is happening in the Balzac submarket,” said the Investor.
The ongoing business success of Balzac is a significant feather in the cap of Rocky View County, which is experiencing growth in almost all areas. However, Balzac’s strategic location along Hwy. 2 just north of Calgary has made it a key area of attraction for ongoing commercial and light industrial investment, and is experiencing a growing importance as a burgeoning transportation and distribution hub for goods slated to end up in communities all over western Canada.
In a recent interview, RVC Reeve Crystal Kissel said it was the vision of past councils and the subsequent expansion of Balzac under more recent councils which has paved the way forward for Balzac’s ongoing success.
“First of all, we have to give credit to a vision of councils long ago,” she said. “If it wasn’t for them that took the initiative and figured out the servicing and brought in CrossIron Mills, which opened that door, we wouldn’t be talking today about Balzac, I am sure. It would not look the same.
“We have been fortunate because each council has helped it grow,” Kissel added, “and had a vision to see it be successful. And for that, we are very fortunate.”
Kissel said you also have to acknowledge the strategic advantages of having serviced industrial lots available and beneficial logistics when it comes to Balzac’s development.
“Balzac is located as best as it possibly could,” she stated. “It’s got an extensive highway system. We have got our great ring road now; so thank you to the province for finishing that. We’ve got rail and intermodal, and it’s really easy access to the airport. So we are very fortunate, and national brands have identified Balzac as an area that creates opportunity for them to improve their profitability. And they get great customer satisfaction out of that– it’s a great strategic location for any big brand store.”
Kissel also wanted to acknowledge the intrepid developers who once looked out at empty fields and saw the potential for the future.
“The continued success of Balzac is attributed to several factors,” she concluded. “One of them is our Tier 1 developers who are committed to developing premium industrial properties which attract high-value tenants. Our (County) tax rates, of course, help with that. Location is also really important.”
