The Downtown Calgary Development Incentive Program has approved five new projects that will provide housing to more than 1,000 Calgarians and eliminate nearly 500,000 square feet of office space in Calgary’s downtown. These five projects will convert empty office space into new homes for future downtown residents. The five projects are:

• Taylor Building (805 8 Avenue SW) – Cressey Developments.
• Petro Fina Building (736 8 Avenue SW) – People First Development Company.
• Eau Claire Place I (525 3 Avenue SW) – Cidex Group of Companies.
• Eau Claire Place II (521 3 Avenue SW) – Pacific Reach Properties.
• The Loft (744 4 Avenue SW) – Institutional Mortgage Capital.

“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.”

Three of the five projects will bring new life to buildings in the west end of the Downtown Core – an area that has the greatest amount of empty office space. These projects complement three previously announced residential conversion projects in the area. To support current and future residents in this area, The City is making additional investments to improve public spaces and amenities, including redesigning Stephen Avenue and 8 Street SW, West Eau Claire Park and Eau Claire Promenade, and Century Gardens.

“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 Sheryl McMullen, manager, investment & marketing for The City’s Downtown Strategy. “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.”

Upon completion of construction, these five new projects will receive about $36.3 million combined from the program. The estimated grant amounts are based on a rate of $75 per square foot of office space being converted to living space. Final amounts will be confirmed and disbursed at project completion.