Situated on the shores of Chestermere Lake, City Hall is one of the most picturesque places in the community. As it is such a desirable location, Council is exploring the potential of selling the property.  

“We are serious about looking into every opportunity to increase our non-residential tax base,” says Mayor Marshall Chalmers. “City Hall sits on a highly desirable piece of lakefront property and we gain no tax revenue with our civic office being there. So we are looking at all of our options to ensure residents get the most bang for their buck.”

The property sits on 1.94 acres of waterfront property beside Chestermere Lake. With the belief that selling, renting or leasing the property could help increase non-residential taxes, Council is taking the first step to explore the option.

“We are a growing community so we are always thinking about how we can grow with purpose. Lakefront commercial properties are limited and a good source of tax revenue, so we are testing the waters to see what comes of it,” says Mayor Chalmers.

If the City finds suitable interest, more work would need to be done to determine next steps including an agreement for sale or lease, finding a new city hall and moving city services.

As part of the due diligence work for a new multipurpose recreation complex to be located in the new development in the west end, the City has been exploring options to co-locate a civic centre and a library along with it.

“The priority remains to maximize the commercial opportunity on the building and land and to generate tax revenue. This will only make sense if the cost of a new co-located city hall does not exceed any purchase price,” says Chalmers.

The request for expressions of interest is in development and will be issued soon.