Construction headaches continue for Marda Loop business owners

Business owners seek financial support A number of southeast Calgary businesses are looking to the city to help them during a prolonged construction project. Mason DePatie reports.

Business owners in the southwest Calgary community of Marda Loop are pleading with the city for financial relief following months of construction delays that are leading to drastic revenue losses.

Upgrades on the main streets started in June 2023 and are not expected to wrap up until sometime in 2025.

According to the city, this week, vehicle traffic is restricted along 19th Street just north of 34th Avenue to the back lane in support of Enmax's work.

Access to the back alley is being maintained on the east side from 18th Street, but the west side on 19th Street will remain closed during this time.

"Year over year, we're definitely down quite a bit," said Cameron Fraser, owner of Fraser & Fig.

"We saw an impact last year of about 20 to 30 per cent losses and with this massive construction, it's probably a 50 per cent reduction in sales now."

Marty Venneri, owner of F45 Marda Loop, says many of his clients are unable to attend classes due to a lack of parking.

"There's a huge uptick of people missing classes and no-shows are up tremendously, with people taking upwards of 30 minutes just to find a parking spot," he said.

"There's been kind of a lack of communication from the city in regards to when the construction will be, how long it will be and how it will be affected. There's been really no correspondence in terms of how they're going to help us."

Youngmin Kang, manager of Wow Bakery, says many people avoid her shop entirely because a giant blue tarp is currently blocking the entrance where excavation work is taking place.

"So many people don’t know that our doors are open," she said.

"Many people just walk by thinking that we’re closed."

Fraser, Venneri and Kang are part of a group of 20 small-business owners who have penned an open letter to Mayor Jyoti Gondek and city council, calling for financial relief.

"We were encouraged by Mayor Gondek's comments that 'city administration [should look] closely at what other municipalities are doing to see if local businesses might benefit from a similar approach here in Calgary,'" the letter reads.

“And Councillor Wallcot who stated that ‘calls for small-business relief when facing construction is both a fair and logical request to ensure that small businesses can stay afloat during construction turbulence.' However, since these statements were made in June, construction in Marda Loop has continued without relief for business owners and we are seeing the impacts in the form of business closures."

So far, just one business, Apt. 22 Beauty Boutique has had to close its doors as a result of the impacts of construction.

City working as fast as possible: councillor

Courtney Walcott, councillor for the city's eighth ward, says updates will come to council very soon from administration to explore ways other municipalities have addressed major construction challenges.

"Some of the areas that we're exploring is, of course, the simple stuff -- the tax deferrals, the tax supports. And, of course, then we're looking at much more targeted approaches like you'll see in Montreal -- they have grants that go from $5,000 to $40,000 with significant challenges associated with them," he said.

"So we're taking the models that other cities are doing, and we're trying to make sure that it works for us here and that we can expedite it and get it out quickly to support a place like Marda Loop."

When asked how quickly financial relief could come for struggling businesses impacted by construction, Walcott said the city is working as fast as possible.

"The reality is that 'quickly' would have been last year," he said.

"So, this is just making sure that we are being responsive, as honestly and as fast as we can this year, so before major construction starts up again.

"Right now, Marda Loop is experiencing utility upgrades, so Atco and Enmax. Before we actually go in to start tearing up the road again to complete the pedestrian upgrades, we want to make sure we have something on the books."

Upgrades include the creation of multi-use pathways and improved pedestrian crossings.

Annie Dormuth, executive director of the Alberta branch of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says the city needs to step up sooner.

"We're calling for direct financial relief to go directly to the business owners, not just the property owners and that's why the Montreal program is effective," she said.

"It's a $5,000 grant directly to business owners. If it can be done in Montreal, I question why it can't be done in Calgary."

BIA encouraging local shopping

Bob van Wegen, executive director of the Marda Loop Business Improvement Area, says concerns from small-business owners impacted by construction are "perfectly legitimate."

He says construction work in the area will be a benefit in the long term, but work in the short term is being done by his team to mitigate the financial strain as much as possible.

"We're working with the city to have access to the area and also to continue promoting the area as a great place to come down even during all of this construction work," van Wegen said.

"We've been putting a lot of signage up in the community with Coney, our construction mascot, to sort of have a little fun with the challenges that are happening by passing out gift certificates, but we have some other campaigns as well planned to help business."

The City of Calgary website notes plans are still being confirmed for 2024 construction in the Marda Loop area.

"Although we do our best to plan accordingly to reduce impacts on residents, construction in an older community like Marda Loop means that sometimes, we run into surprises," the city website reads.

"We expect to see adjustments to our schedule throughout the construction season, and you will see this page be updated regularly with any schedule changes."