‘Tremendous asset’: BlueSky named Treaty One Development Corp. CEO

Kathleen BlueSky, a longtime community and land use planning consultant, has been named chief executive officer of Treaty One Development Corp.

The organization is responsible for the development of Naawi-Oodena (“centre of the heart” or “centre of our community”) on the former Kapyong barracks site in south Winnipeg.

BlueSky, an MBA graduate from the University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business, had been serving as interim CEO for a little more than a year.

She was introduced as the new CEO at a two-day economic development summit called Unlocking Opportunities at Naawi-Oodena, where stakeholders including chiefs and councils from the seven Manitoba First Nations who are part of Treaty 1 and are the owners of Treaty One Development Corp. (T1DC), discussed strategies and opportunities for development.

The seven First Nations are Brokenhead Ojibway, Long Plain, Peguis, Roseau River Anishinabe, Sagkeeng, Sandy Bay Ojibway and Swan Lake.

Naawi-Oodena is expected to eventually be a $1.2-billion mixed-use development with commercial, residential, sports and recreation, a cultural campus, education and community spaces, including 2,300-3,000 residential units and 915,000-1.2 million square feet of commercial space

Construction started last week on the so-called Block A, an eight-acre parcel of land on the northeast corner of Taylor Avenue and Kenaston Boulevard that T1DC will develop on its own behalf.

T1DC is partnering with the Canada Lands Corp., a federal Crown, on the 160-acre project.

BlueSky said they are working with CLC to design the infrastructure — water, sewage and roadways — on the entirety of the 160 acres, of which T1DC has sole responsibility for the development of 109 and CLC for the other 51.

The Block A development will include a gas bar and car wash; a seven-storey, 105,000-sq.-ft. office building; a 10,000-sq.-ft. strip mall; and also possible a 4,000-sq.ft. bank/insurance building.

On Monday, BlueSky said financing is in place “for most” of that development and tenants are lined up “for almost all the space” in the first phase.

BlueSky said it will likely take about four years for the completion of the entire Block A development.

Sagkeeng Chief E.J. Fontaine, president of T1DC, said BlueSky has helped lay the groundwork for the organization as it moves from the planning to the development stage.

“In the past year, Kathleen BlueSky has been integral in keeping this major project moving forward and on track,” he said. “Her education, extensive experience, and steady leadership will be a tremendous asset for T1DC.”

Spokespeople from Canada Lands Corp. were unavailable Monday.

At the conference, BlueSky spoke confidently and with passion about the guiding principals for the development.

“T1DC was established to generate economic growth and prosperity for the seven First Nations through the development of this jointly held Treaty 1 land,” she said. “Even though what we are doing is economic development focused on business and making money, everything we do starts with a spiritual foundation.”

Having said that, she added all the so-called Big Five banks have expressed interest in taking part in the first phase of development, which is designed to provide revenue to sustain T1DC throughout the development process and may go on for as long as 20 years.

She made it clear the organization is mindful of taking a conservative approach to the financing of the undertaking one of whose goal is to establish generational wealth for the seven First Nations.

As such, BlueSky said it is trying to keep its debt load as low as possible and minimize cash calls to its seven owners.

“We’re trying to go that for as long as we can before we ask for an equity injection from our members, but there will be a point where we will need that,” she said. “That will require us to manage a heavy debt load. But we have a conservative business plan ensuring we have the capacity to cover our liabilities.”

The organization is also accessing grants and other contributions as much as possible to assist with the work.

BlueSky said for T1DC to be successful in offering as many opportunities as possible for First Nations people to participate in the Naawi-Oodena development, it is going to establish Canada’s first First Nation-led Indigenous entrepreneur centre and business and technology incubator that will support Indigenous entrepreneurship nationwide.

It is working with Red Leaf Capital to set it up. The plan is for that centre to take up about 15,000 sq. ft. in the new office building that will be development on Block A.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca