Strategic Group of Calgary loves Mission for good reason

If you happened to visit Calgary, Canada in May and didn’t go to the city’s famed 4th Street Lilac Festival, then don’t stress too much — there’s always next year.

The 4th Street Lilac Festival (http://www.lilacfestival.net/) is an annual Calgary event that began back in 1989.  Started as a small neighborhood festival by the Cliff Bungalow /Mission Community Association and the 4th Street Business Revitalization Zone, over the years the festival has grown by leaps and bounds and now attracts more than 80,000 people each year.  Held on the last Sunday of May, the Lilac Festival promises good, all-around fun and boasts a morning spring parade, over 500 vendors, music, dance troupes and much much more.

Part of the Festival’s appeal and the reason why it’s grown so much is because of its location.  4th Street, where the festival is held, is right in the centre of Calgary’s Mission District (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission,_Calgary) which is one of the city’s trendiest, most popular neighborhoods.

Highly walkable and located close to the downtown corridor and the Elbow River, Mission was originally founded by French Canadian settlers.  Today, visitors and locals can find elegant streets lined with prewar homes and tasteful coffee houses, restaurants and  locally-owned and operated businesses.  Mission’s 4th Street,  also known as “Calgary’s restaurant row”, is more bustling.  The street offers more than thirty-five restaurants, ranging from small pizza joints to high-end Italian dining to restaurants serving authentic French creperie.

“What’s not love?”

That’s the rhetorical question asked by many in Calgary, including Strategic Group (http://strategicgroup.ca/), one of Calgary’s largest real estate management and development companies (https://www.facebook.com/StrategicGroup).  With a portfolio of properties in across Canada, the Mission District holds a special place for the company.  Every year, Strategic Group offers free parking to Lilac Festival goers at its three parking lots in the neighborhood.

While maintaining the unique character of the Mission District, Strategic Group has added to the neighborhood’s charm through its developments (https://twitter.com/strategicgrp).  In 2013, for example, the same year of the flooding, Strategic Group completed construction on its 20/20 4th Street Southwest property (http://www.strategicgroup.ca/News-and-Events/2020-Time-Lapse-Update.aspx).  With close proximity to downtown and views of 4th Street and the surrounding Mission, the six-story property was developed to bring even more business to the area — something the property has successfully done over the past two years.

“There’s no secret why we [Strategic Group] have chosen to invest in the Mission District,” adds Riaz Mamdani, Strategic Group’s CEO.  “The Mission District has always been and will always be a special neighborhood in the city.  People and businesses seek out opportunities to live and do business in the Mission, and we want to be right there with them.”

The 4th Street Lilac Festival may be the largest organized event in the Mission, but it’s by far not the only one.  The neighborhood has plenty of things to do and see all year round.  For more information on 4th Street and the Mission itself, visit the 4th Street BRZ (http://www.4streetcalgary.com/)