Lowe's Canada is the latest company establishing a new bulk distribution centre in Rocky View County (RVC)

The ground will soon be broken for a $120 million bulk distribution centre in the High Plains Industrial Park in East Balzac.

The 1.23 million-square-foot development is expected to be completed in the fall of 2021. It will consolidate four sites currently located in Calgary, and add capacity for growth in serving Lowe’s and RONA stores throughout western Canada. 

Rocky View Reeve Greg Boehlke says they are pleased to be adding Lowe's to a growing list of distribution and storage operations.

"We're super happy to have companies like Lowe's that have the confidence in us to come out and build in a time when the rest of the region and country and part of the world is uncertain."

"They're pretty high on the economy in the future, so now is the time to build. There's going to be a lot of jobs just in the building of the facility, and 400 full-time jobs are nothing to sneeze at either."

A robust commercial sector continues to help RVC offset residential property taxes. About 26 per cent of county land is nonresidential and accounts for about 50 per cent of taxes collected.

Reeve Boehlke believes the naysayers are wrong.

"The critics of Rocky View are either misformed or intentionally like to put out false information. The nonresidential part of Rocky View is absolutely sustaining us."

"It's a very diversified municipality and a very expensive one to run, but we're gaining efficiencies every day and trying to cut red-tape and getting shovels in the ground. Lowe's is a great example of being in the right place at the right time. The location is great, and we're just happy and proud to have these folks in our municipality.".

Lowes joins Amazon, Petland, PetSmart, Walmart, Sobeys, Smucker Foods, Gordon Food Service, Whirlpool, major agricultural producers, and other international brands also have distribution and storage operations in Rocky View.

RVC has Alberta’s fifth-largest economic base, behind only Calgary, Edmonton, and the Fort McMurray/Wood Buffalo and Strathcona/Sherwood Park regions.