[Nehkara]

Construction begins on tower set to become Western Canada's tallest skyscraper

CALGARY - Construction begins today on the Brookfield Place Calgary east tower, which will be Western Canada’s tallest building on completion.

The 1.4-million-square-foot office tower is the first phase of development on the site of the old Herald building in the downtown core.

The east tower will be 56 storeys or 247 metres in height and Cenovus Energy will be anchoring the development with a one-million-square-foot commitment.

Development plans for the site also call for an additional office tower totaling approximately one million square feet, a 60-foot-high transparent glass pavilion, restaurants, retail shops and amenities at street level, and underground parking accommodating 1,100 parking stalls. A half-acre lit public plaza will traverse the site and will feature restaurants and cafés, public art displays, cultural activities and programmed activity provided by Brookfield’s Arts & Events program.

Partners on the project are architects Fender Katsalidis Arney and Dialog, and construction manager Ellis Don. The entire Brookfield Place Calgary project is expected to create 1,300 construction jobs and 7.5 million construction man-hours in Calgary, said Brookfield.