Calgary’s Culture and Entertainment District will be getting it’s first major private investment in the form of an $80 million hotel development on Stampede Park.

The hotel, which is being developed by Matthews Southwest Hospitality, will break ground in 2024 next to Cowboys Casino along Stampede Trail and 12 Avenue SE.

“This is very meaningful for the future the Stampede—we’re so excited about the BMO Center expansion because that diversifies our business offering—it really takes this BMO Center from a trade show facility to a convention facility into a Tier 1 convention facility,” said Calgary Stampede CEO Joel Cowley.

“But to be a tier one convention facility you have to have hotel support, and this first hotel in this location will certainly help in that regard.”

CMLC President and CEO Kate Thompson said the Dec. 6 announcement marked a major milestone for the Culture and Entertainment District.

“It’s really big, it’s not only a long time in the making, but also a significant step forward for the actual BMO Centre expansion, but the complementary service of a hotel adjacent to that expansion is absolutely the next logical step in all of our development,” she said.

“There’s been a lot of public investment in the area of BMO Center expansion, all of the infrastructure in and around it, but having private investments in the area really signals a change.”