Five buildings to be converted from vacant offices to residential in downtown Calgary

Calgary. (Photo: Twitter/yyctransportation)

Five new projects have been selected by the City of Calgary to be part of its program to convert empty office buildings into residential space.

All are expected to provide living space for over 1,000 Calgarians, while at the same time eliminating more than 500,000 square feet of vacant office space.

Two of the buildings are in the Eau Claire area, two are on Eighth Avenue and another is on Fourth Avenue S.W. near Seventh Street S.W.

The five locations are as follows:

• Taylor Building (805 Eighth Avenue S.W.) – Cressey Developments (64,000 square feet, 85 homes);
• Petro Fina Building (736 Eighth Avenue S.W.) – People First Development Company (130,000 squarefeet, 105 homes);
• Eau Claire Place I (525 Third Avenue S.W.) – Cidex Group of Companies (79,400 square feet, 90 homes);
• Eau Claire Place II (521 Third Avenue S.W.) – Pacific Reach Properties (158,000 square feet, 195 homes); and
• The Loft (744 Fourth Avenue S.W.) – Institutional Mortgage Capital (52,550 square feet, 55 homes).

Three of the buildings scheduled for conversion are on downtown's west side, where the most vacant spaces are located.

They also come in tandem with a number of other downtown initiatives designed to upgrade Stephen Avenue, West Eau Claire Promenade, Eau Claire Park and Century Gardens.

10 projects have been selected as part of the citys Downtown Calgary Development Incentive Program that will create 1,420 new homes and eliminate approximately 1.35 million square feet of vacant office space.

"Added vibrancy in west end of our downtown, an area that has considerable vacancy and that is traditionally dominated by office buildings, goes a long way in making Calgary safer for everyone at all hours of the day and enables our local businesses to thrive within complete communities," said the City of Calgary's Sheryl McMullen. "These five projects, along with previously announced projects, will help transform the Downtown West and Eau Claire neighbourhoods into key destinations for Calgarians and visitors alike."

Together, the five projects will receive around $36.3 million from the program.  To date, 10 projects selected for the program will remove 1.35 million square feet of vacant office space, and add around 1,420 new homes.

The city's ultimate goal is to remove six million square feet of office space within 10 years.

"One of Calgary's biggest successes, and one that we are receiving international acclaim for, is our Downtown Calgary Development Incentive Program," said Mayor Jyoti Gondek. "This program is ensuring that nestled in the centre of our city, Calgarians and visitors can discover welcoming neighbourhoods, unique businesses and active streets.

"The five office-to-residential conversion projects announced today will be key to supporting this vision as well as expanding the economic engine of the city."