Calgary dealership developments break a different kind of ground

Two auto dealerships will be anchor tenants in a massive First Nations development on Calgary’s western border, a unique project in Canada, at least in terms of scale.

Metro Ford and Big 4 Motors will each build a store at the 530-acre (220-hectare) Taza Park, a mixed development of retail, office and residential. It’s the second of three “villages” in a development covering 1,200 acres (500 hectares) of reserve land.

“Metro Ford and Big 4 Motors have been working diligently with the Nation to incorporate Tsuut’ina history and culture into each of their properties, setting a new standard for the Taza tenant and Nation relationship,” Bryce Starlight, a member of the Tsuut’ina Nation and vice-president of development at Taza Development Corp., said after the sod-turning ceremony in late August.

Both dealerships expect to be ready by December 2022 or early 2023.

“When we open, it will be just over five years since we contacted Taza about taking part in the development,” said Reg Pattemore, dealer principal of Metro Ford. The dealership has outgrown its current location in Calgary’s core, Pattemore said. Potential customers have been avoiding downtown, where parking is scarce and access to the dealership is difficult, he said.

The new Big 4 Motors Jeep-Chrysler-Dodge-Ram store will be ready at about the same time, said Gerry Wood, president of the Wood Group, which owns Big 4 Motors.

‘A SEAMLESS PROCESS’

The biggest hurdle was finding land in the west end that could be zoned for dealerships.

“That’s where Taza came in,” Pattemore said. “It’s been a seamless process, far faster than if we’d looked in Calgary.”

Pattemore called the relocation to Taza “an honour,” adding that he looks forward to “dreaming together and prospering together in the future.”

The land is leased for more than 90 years, Pattemore said, “and we’ve paid out that lease to the end of its term.” The deal will be “a good thing for Metro ... we will be able to better serve our customers, old and new. And with the completed Tsuut’ina Trail segment of the Calgary ring road, we will have fantastic accessibility.”

Two segments of the highway are still under construction. The 100-kilometre road encircles Calgary, providing four to six lanes bypassing the city to the east and west.

Most of the west section runs through Tsuut’ina land, after decades of negotiation between the Nation, the province and the city.

SHOWCASE ‘HISTORY AND CULTURE’

Metro Ford at Taza Park will cover 75,000 square feet (7,000 square metres) on eight acres (3.2 hectares). “Landscaping and design elements will reflect Tsuut’ina history and culture,” Pattemore said. “We have a new logo designed by a Tsuut’ina artist, who took the old Thunderbird logo and modernized it. He is also creating artwork for the interior of the dealership.”

When it comes to incorporating Tsuut’ina history and culture in dealership design, Starlight said, “We don’t like to set hard-and-fast guidelines. There are a lot of different ways to do it. We don’t impose a look.”

Wood of Big 4 Motors said it was time that the dealership — in its current location for about 40 years — move to a larger site, and the Taza deal means the store will more than double its footprint.

The new dealership will be about 60,000 square feet (5,600 square metres) and have 45 service and detailing bays and a photo bay. “We will be EV-friendly,” Wood said.

While there are Indigenous-owned dealerships in Canada, it is rare for non-Native-owned stores to be located on reserve land.

Stellantis has confirmed that this is the first deal of this type for its dealer network in Canada; a non-Indigenous-owned Ford dealership is located in a First Nations industrial park in Fort McKay, Alta.

Wood is excited about the opportunities and predicts more dealers will be looking for space in the development.

“We’re privileged to be one of the first,” Wood said. “The potential of the area is fantastic.”

Both dealers intend to move their current staff to the new sites. When new positions become available, the stores will first reach out to qualified Tsuut’ina staff and introduce training programs.

“There are more positions than there are Tsuut’ina,” Starlight said. “It’s a question of connecting to qualified people.” There are also no hard rules on hiring Indigenous workers, he said.

Both stores will also have signs in English and the Tsuut’ina language.

The size of the dealers’ capital investment “speaks to the viability of the development plan,” Starlight said.

Neither dealer would discuss the cost of construction.

Ford and Stellantis executives would not comment on the project, although both dealers said their corporate executives were supportive.

Although hurdles have been no different from any other development, Starlight said, establishing the validity of the vision for it was paramount.

“We know Taza is always under scrutiny as an Indigenous project. But the more we enlighten people about the benefits ... the less it’s about being an Indigenous community.

“We see [Taza] as a regional growth,” Starlight said. “It’s ... an entire region cooperating to bring success.”