Calgary's building conversion plan continues with three new projects

Calgary's office-to-residential conversion plan rolls on with three new projects

A view of Calgary's skyline. (Jeff Whyte/Shutterstock)

The City of Calgary’s plan to reimagine and revamp its downtown core isn’t slowing down.

After an announcement last month that application intakes for the development incentive program for office-to-residential conversions will be paused due to demand, the City continued to detail plans for projects already in the pipeline.

It’s all part of a bigger plan to revamp the city’s core and make use of vacant office buildings that were left empty during the height of the pandemic and the domino effect of changing work arrangements.

“Calgary’s office conversion programs remain one of our greatest successes and have become internationally recognized as the template for creating new homes in existing downtown office buildings,” said Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek in a statement.

She added that the new initiatives are tackling office conversions in different ways: climate-resilient initiatives, building much-needed long-stay hotel rooms, and accelerating housing delivery.

The goal of the downtown office conversion programs is for 17 conversion projects to be transformed into more than 2,300 new homes for Calgarians.

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The three new projects

Dominion Centre at 665 Eight Street Sw

Just under 100,000 sq ft of office space will be converted into 132 homes over 10 floors. A minimum of 25% of rental homes will be rented at affordable rates.

That project will include approximately 5,800 sq ft of amenity space for residents and community members.

The Palliser One at 125 Nine Avenue SE

The project, in total, is a conversion of approximately 415,000 sq ft of office space to 395 units, featuring a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedrooms.

Roughly 25% of those units will be rented at affordable rates and will include a mid-building, double volume height balcony and amenity floor, a main floor sport court that will be an ice rink in the winter, a main floor fitness facility centre and pet park on the third-floor balcony.

Element by Westin at 833 Four Avenue SW

Located in the west end of the downtown core, this building will have easy access to transit and close proximity to the Bow River, multi-use pathways and the Eight Street urban improvement corridor.

Approximately 168,000 sq ft of office space will be converted to 226 hotel rooms and hotel facilities.

The building will include features like vehicle charging and will use recycled materials as much as possible in design, construction and room décor. It will also have eco-friendly bathroom features, including low-flow fixtures.

All of these projects, the City said, are aligned with both its climate change and housing affordability strategy.

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