Rare chance to lease unique space in Calgary’s Municipal Building

February 24, 2025 Canuck

The City of Calgary is hoping to attract a new business to a unique but prominent space in the Municipal Building.

Known as the Triangle Space, it has sat mostly empty for the past decade.

But now, the triangle-shaped room on the western edge of the building is available for lease. It features about 2,800 square feet of floor space on two levels.

Rhonda Dupuis, the manager of land and asset management for the city, said the ideal would be a business owner who can offer something different to the area.

“We have come up with some concepts, like a grab and go, a bike shop. Maybe a bubble tea place. Or my personal favourite is a doggy day care. But you know, really the sky is the limit,” said Dupuis.

The ground-level space has direct access to the sidewalk and to a patio. Like the rest of the Municipal Building, it does feature a fair amount of concrete, she said.

It was specifically designed to be an art gallery, part of the building that opened in 1985.

A building with a red circle surrounding a portion of it. — The City of Calgary says it wants to find a business owner who can offer something different to the area. (City of Calgary)

But since the Triangle Gallery left about a decade ago, it’s been used now and again by city workers displaced from their office space during renovations.

Dupuis said this may be an opportunity to create something people downtown can use or be happy visiting.

“We want to create an amenity that brings people something that they value, be it for the staff in the municipal complex, for the local residents or even any of the office workers downtown,” said Dupuis.

She said they’ve done a number of tours of the space with prospective tenants. But they want to hear people’s ideas for possibly using the space. The deadline for submissions is March 31.

The executive director of the Calgary Downtown Association, Mark Garner, said he’d welcome an activation of the space but hopefully it doesn’t duplicate other local businesses.

He noted there are a number of vacant retail frontage spots downtown, but the Municipal Building is more to the east end of the downtown business district.

Garner would like to see something that picks up on the specific location.

“A place where you can get sandwiches and sit on the piazza, I think, is a great idea, as long as it’s not a competitive product for the retailers that are paying for bricks and mortar downtown currently,” he said.

As well, he noted the area around historic City Hall is a bit of a tourist draw on its own, so maybe that will spark an idea for a new business.

“There’s a large part of the population that comes for government tourism. They want to visit your city hall and your old buildings and do walking tours,” said Garner.

He said he expects the way the surrounding area is going to change in coming years will fuel business opportunities.

Olympic Plaza, which is across the street, is now being torn up as the city prepares for a major redevelopment of the site. The renovation and expansion of Arts Commons is also getting underway this year.

As well, nearby buildings on Ninth Avenue are being converted from empty office space to residential units, something that will boost area population numbers.

Information on the Triangle Space is available on the City of Calgary website.

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