The redevelopment of Calgary’s former Eau Claire Market is in limbo due to uncertainty surrounding the future Green Line.

Councillor Terry Wong told CBC that the demolition demolition of the closed market and some surrounding buildings is on hold until a funding dispute between the city and the province gets resolved.

The city has voiced its intention to wind down the Green Line after the province withdrew its $1.5-billion share of funding for the project, claiming that it has become a financial boondoggle.

“Until we get to the wind-down conversations with the Green Line board, we won’t know exactly whether we will be demolishing [the Eau Claire buildings] right away or not,” Wong told CBC.

The provincial funding pullback came after city council approved a revised version of the Green Line at a cost of $6.2 billion. The revision shortened the line, and reduced its station count to seven from 13, but also boosted the project’s budget by $700 to the $6.2-billion figure.

Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen originally endorsed the city’s version but quickly changed his stance.

According to the city, the wind-down would cost $850 million on top of $1.3 billion already spent on setup costs that include land acquisition. The wind-down expense would bring the city’s total cost of discontinuing the light rapid-transit project to about $2.1 billion.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek and some councillors have called on the province to take over the project. But Smith has balked at that idea.

The dispute has been heavily politicized from its outset. Smith and Dreeshen have contended that the Green Line’s delay and cost increases stem from former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi’s mismanagement of the project while he was in office. Nenshi now leads the Alberta NDP, the Official Opposition in the Legislature.

In 2023, the city acquired some of the former market’s land from Harvard Developments to build an underground Green Line station that would serve as a downtown terminus. Meanwhile, Harvard Developments has launched plans to develop a multi-building mixed-use project around the proposed station.

But the province has contracted AECOM to propose a different Green Line route. Premier Smith has broached the idea of putting the terminus station near the future new entertainment centre in Victoria Park, just off downtown, instead of Eau Claire.

But that idea raises questions as to how the Green Line would connect with the downtown core and C-Train system. The province opposes the original plan to build an underground tunnel as part of the Green Line.

Wong told CBC that the city may need to revisit its agreement with Harvard Developments and re-evaluate plans for the buildings that it owns, depending on the province’s revised Green Line route. The city and company are holding ongoing discussions to determine how to proceed once the province’s plan for the Green Line becomes clear, he told CBC.

Harvard Developments has declined to comment on the situation.

AECOM is expected to propose a new route by December.

Eau Claire Market’s proposed redevelopment is among many announced and contemplated commercial real estate projects along the city’s approved Green Line route.

The other projects also appear to be in limbo until the line’s funding dispute is sorted out.

Pictured: Illustration of a proposed Green Line station and future mixed-use buildings in the area of Calgary’s former Eau Claire Market.

Rendering: Harvard Developments