City's sale of Midfield Heights properties has started

Parcels of a prime 24-acre site went up for sale to developers by the City of Calgary on Tuesday.

The site has been vacant since February 2018, when the last residents of a mobile home community were evicted following a public legal battle.

"There has been a lot of land development work that had to take place," Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Tuesday.

"There were approvals that had to be done."

Nearly six-and-a-half years have gone by since the last resident left the park.

Infrastructure had to be removed and some remediation and drainage issues had to be addressed, but Gondek says the process still took too long.

"I don't believe we've moved as quickly as we could on that site," she said.

"I'm very encouraged to see that there is action taking place now."

Of the 24 acres that make up the site, 14.23 will eventually be available for mixed-use multi-family development, according to the city's website.

The city says as many as 1,500 units will eventually be available on the site, compared to the previous 175 mobile homes.

Five out of seven parcels are currently available for sale.

One of the two remaining parcels is being held for sale to a non-profit housing provider.

Some Realtors believe demand for the parcels will be high, based on the number of people subscribing to their updates.

"We've had close to 100 people just reach out over the past year," said Ben Pinckney, Realtor with Calgaryism Real Estate Team.

"It's been fantastic seeing the amount of progress that's been made on the site and I think it presents a great opportunity for the futures of Calgarians."

The city says 1,200 people have signed up for updates on the property through its website.

The property sits at the top of the hill to the west of Deerfoot Trail along 16th Avenue.

The sale will runs from June 4 to 9.