The president of the company that owns Stantec Executive Place (right) says they remain interested in buying the former post office building should future circumstances allow. (rdnewsNOW/Troy Gillard)

By Josh Hall and Troy Gillard

sticking around

Property company remains committed to Red Deer’s Downtown

Aug 21, 2020 | 9:35 AM

The head of the company that owns one of Red Deer’s largest buildings says they’re committed to staying and helping revitalize the Downtown area.

Randy Mabbott, president of Cochrane-based Grand Central Properties Inc. which owns Stantec Executive Place at Ross Street and 49 Avenue, says he doesn’t share some of the “extreme negative optics” many have of Downtown.

Mabbott spoke against a site exemption to allow a building in Edgar Industrial Park to add ‘office’ as an approved use, an exemption that was approved by city council on Monday.

“We need to work to show that office tenants and other businesses need to be and should be located in the downtown,” he says.

Grand Central Properties has owned Stantec Executive Place since 2014 and was closing in on a deal to purchase the former federal building across the street, but the COVID-19 pandemic and issues with the province’s heritage department have put those plans on hold.

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Mabbott says what Red Deer is going through with its downtown isn’t much different from other medium or large cities such as Calgary, and that abandoning the area won’t solve anything.

“Unless you have a good active downtown core, it’s hard to sustain it during evenings and on weekends, so you need a bit of a mix of residential, which Calgary has done. Red Deer is looking at developing along the river, you’ve got the events centre downtown, so we see it as an opportunity,” he suggests. “Businesses like Stantec want to be centralized. Companies like theirs don’t want to be out on the periphery, so we see it as a longer term play.”

Mabbott says that at Stantec Executive Place there are policies in place to work with street-involved people as opposed to just “shooing them away.”

“Those people need to be helped and addressed, but the downtown is probably not the best place for that to happen,” he says. “We see the downtown as a central activity area, where people come together for music and laughter and fun, so whatever we can do around that, that’s what we’re looking to do.”

Emily Damberger, planning manager at the City of Red Deer, says Mabbott is right to describe the municipality’s planning and economic development philosophy as ‘proactive.’

“We are looking at trends, getting out there to talk to businesses, and getting data and information to help support them,” she says. “There are so many variables in each business’s decision to decide they may have a better opportunity elsewhere. We just hope to have good conversations with them about helping them stay in our city.”

Whether its addressing drug use and homelessness, or seeing restaurants increase patio usage during the pandemic, Damberger says the evolution of Downtown is always in a state of flux.

“There’s the long term vision that people like Randy keep their eyes on, while recognizing there are short-term changes also occurring in our downtown environment,” she says. “This is similar to any other city in North America that goes through cycles. Keeping with the vision and making adaptable program changes is how you keep moving to the long term vision while addressing short term situations.”

Mabbott, meantime, speaks highly of conversations he’s had with City staff and is optimistic for what the future may hold.

“If the City has ideas about an opportunity for us or a tenant downtown, they’re proactive in calling me about it and I’ve met with them several times. They’re very open-minded and it’s about what they can do to help instead of throwing up obstacles,” says Mabbott.

“Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I don’t see clients wanting to drive out to Gasoline Alley when there’s a more central place to go. Businesses can feed off each other, so if you have five law firms all grouped in one area that benefits them all. When they start spreading out, it doesn’t help anybody.”