A three-story transition hub/innovation centre has cleared another hurdle and is now going to the design and costing stage. 

On Sept. 23, Cochrane CAO Dave Devana presented town council with a business plan for a three-storey 45,000 sq. ft. building on what's commonly referred to as the old Esso Bulk Station property on Railway St. across from the library.

It is proposed the first floor will house the transit hub, public space, office space and potentially a coffee shop or co-working space. The second floor will be dedicated to early start-up incubator tenants. The third floor will be leased to innovation companies at commercial rates. 

The Railway St. property will also serve as a long-awaited pedestrian walkway across the CP mainline to create an additional link between the Historic Downtown and the rest of the downtown core. It will also serve as the Cochrane station should a heavy rail passenger service be established between Bow Valley communities west of Calgary.

It is recommended the innovation centre be governed by an advisory board, whose primary focus is to foster expansion of the innovation sector. An executive director, in collaboration with Town Economic Development staff, will operate the facility and manage day-to-day operations.

The project is estimated to cost $9 million and requires the town to borrow $4.4 million over 30 years after factoring in $4.6 million in GreenTRIP funding from the province. The business plan laid out indicates the borrowing would not impact any other capital projects in the community.

Council heard a lengthy presentation from Devana with supporting information from town facilities manager Greg Barsi and testimonials from Cochrane-based tech sector companies, including 4iiii Innovations and mcThings. A supporting letter was also provided by Garmin.

What it could potentially do, says Devana, is establish Cochrane as a tech sector leader for communities with populations of 10,000 to 50,000. He believes it would attract further investment in the community, create more well-paying jobs and have a positive spin on other business sectors.

"If we set up an incubator we will certainly become a leader in this group and become an example of how one goes about diversifying their economy."

GreenTRIP funding will pay for the main floor and lease revenue would cover the costs of the top two floors.

"All these costs will be covered by the commercial tenants, so this is not going to cost taxpayers more money," said Devana. "The tenants of the building will subsidize this debt and pay for their portion of the building."

The town believes it has a strong argument to receive additional provincial government funding for the project because of its ability to diversify and expand upon Alberta's economic base. Nor have they fully explored the potential of receiving corporate donations from companies who might want to be associated with the project.

On Dec. 9, town council will review the design and final costing. By then, Devana is confident they will have firm commitments in place for tenants. The town will be looking for five-year leasing commitments and have been in discussion with potential tenants.

The town has been exploring leveraging GreenTRIP funding to expand upon the community's tech sector since the spring. Mayor Genung visited the Kitchener-Waterloo in May and returned later with fellow councillor Alex Reed, Devana, Barsi and tech sector representatives. Kitchener-Waterloo's reputation as the 'Silicon Valley North' is anchored by innovation centres established over a decade ago.

If approved, building construction would begin next spring and be completed in December 2020.