Nearly ten years into the East Village Master Plan, which was developed in 2009, the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) has invested close to $400-million into its delivery.

"That has attracted nearly $3 billion in private investment, including RioCan's urban retail centre, now under construction, and various condo developments," said Clare LePan, CMLC's director of marketing and communications.

The construction machinery sprawled across a whole city block in Calgary's East Village tells a retail success story.

The 5th and Third development (named for its location at Fifth Avenue and Third Street S.E.) is being constructed and leased by RioCan. The project is two-thirds of the way towards completion and on schedule to open in 2020, says Terri Andrianopoulos, RioCan's national vice-president of marketing and communications.

Simmons Building now open to public

Calgarians had their first opportunity to break bread at East Village's long-anticipated Simmons Building last week.

The grand opening celebrated three local food and beverage brands – Charbar, Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters and Sidewalk Citizen Bakery – and furthered the completion of what's being dubbed Calgary's "oldest, newest community."

The backers of East Village won't let recent flooding get in the way of their goal of making it one of the city's most sought-after neighbourhoods.

According to flood maps released by the Province of Alberta, East Village is in a pink zone or flood fringe, despite flood mitigation measures undertaken by the community.

The East village just announced the revitalization of the Simmons Building to include retailers Phil and Sebastian Coffee Roasters, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, CHARCUT by chefs Connie DeSousa and John Jackson.

As a part of the East Village, CMLC (Calgary Municipal Land Corporation) has included the previously mentioned retailers to compliment the over $1.1 billion of planned investment to the neighbourhood.