Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Bumface
Like the Bow? Or the Calgary Tower in its day? What did the city pay for those?
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Lots of incentives are cut for private business in Calgary. I can't speak to the two in question, but two that come to mind were the PetroCanada and CP relocations. The city gave them massive incentives to relocate their offices to Calgary including monetary inducements and tax breaks. Let's not think for a second that the City does not bend over for private business. They can bend zoning restrictions, change the classification of historic buildings (I do believe they did this for the Bow?), provide "free land," provide "free loans," incentivize through development deals, provide infrastructure upgrades, not charge taxes, etc. Many of these incentives never make the light of day because they are protected by NDAs. The city can't let these details get out because they establish a baseline for future negotiations with other interests. The city has and will continue to use these mechanisms to incentivize business to come to Calgary, build new buildings, and then to stay in Calgary. This is what municipalities do.