The last tenants moved out of Bridgeland Place last year, but it’s less than clear when anyone will be moving back in.
It’s also unknown when the city’s plans to redevelop land around the affordable housing building will move forward.
The high rise, which first opened in 1971, was closed by the city early in 2023.
There were concerns about its failing heating and water systems, as well as the condition of its outdated and aging units.
The city-owned Calgary Housing Company (CHC) is responsible for the building.
CHC has just signed off on the contract for the demolition of the nearly 200 units in the building. That work is slated to start this fall and will clear the way for the future redesign of the housing units.
The redevelopment will include more two and three bedroom units, which will be more energy efficient that the previous ones.
The City of Calgary estimates it will spend more than $50 million on the rejuvenation of the building.
City involved as well
CHC will not be overseeing plans for the redevelopment of the land around Bridgeland Place.
The task of marketing that land to a developer who will use it to build more housing units resides with the City of Calgary itself.
The area councillor, Gian-Carlo Carra, was surprised to learn the city was moving forward with that approach. He said he fears it will slow down the building of new units.
“Do we have the appropriate relationships with real estate, with our planning department, with the city’s in-house housing team to move as quickly as we need to move on big projects like this?” asked Carra.
It’s a shift from the city’s original plan, which was to let CHC oversee the whole project.
“The decision to split the Bridgeland Place project into a refurbishment of the existing tower and then a general redevelopment of the rest of the land, [that] was split between Calgary Housing and the city’s affordable housing team due to provincial regulations monitoring what CHC can and can’t do as a developer,” said Carra.
He said the general plan is that the proceeds from the sale of the western part of the property will be used by the city to help off-set the costs of the refurbishment and construct more affordable housing around Bridgeland Place.
“I just feel like it’s moving too slow. And I know that there’s a lot going on and we’re in a housing crisis. I look forward to connecting with the affordable housing team and find out where they are with their plans,” said the councillor.
City not talking
The City of Calgary turned down a request for an interview on its plans.
In a statement, the city’s housing solutions team said there isn’t much to report at this time as the project is still in its early stages.
“The City of Calgary is in the preliminary stages of investigating potential plans for the rest of the site,” read the statement.
“More information will be shared in due course.”
The new housing units, as well as the return of the previously used units in Bridgeland Place, are needed.
CHC had 7,211 people on its housing wait list as of May 2024.
It manages its own properties as well as those owned by the City of Calgary and the Government of Alberta.
Over 27,000 Calgarians currently live in properties owned or managed by CHC.