Calgary, AB,
01
March
2018
|
11:00
America/Denver

City of Calgary approves the sale of six development sites to non-profit affordable housing providers

The City of Calgary has approved the sale of six development sites to HomeSpace Society, Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta and Homes for Heroes Foundation (in partnership with the Mustard Seed and ATCO Group) in the most significant sale of City-owned land to affordable housing providers in The City’s history.

“This is another large step forward in working to supply affordable housing solutions for Calgary,” says Sarah Woodgate, Director of Calgary Housing and President of Calgary Housing Company. “The approval of the sales will provide these non-profit housing providers with the opportunity to build new units and we are excited to offer these development opportunities so The City’s land can be leveraged to build more homes.”

Each non-profit organization demonstrated strong track records as affordable housing providers in Calgary by meeting a specific set of criteria including demonstrated experience in multi-residential development and operating, managing or selling non-market housing.

“Calgarians have told us that affordable housing needs to be a major priority and partnering with the community to deliver more affordable housing options is key,” says Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “This historic sale is a great example of collaboration, and is the largest non-commercial land transaction in the City of Calgary’s history.”

The sites are located in the communities of Hillhurst Sunnyside, Albert Park/Radisson Heights, Forest Lawn and the Downtown Commercial Core. Each non-profit met requirements for eligibility to receive funding from The City’s Housing Incentive Program (HIP) and a dedicated addition from the Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) SEED Funding program, marking a meaningful collaboration between the two levels of government.

The HIP program provides grant funding and rebates on City permitting fees for affordable housing projects. CMHC Seed Funding provides financial assistance to support activities that will help facilitate the creation of new affordable housing units and assist existing housing projects to remain viable and affordable.

“This initiative represents a concerted effort to increase Calgary’s supply of affordable housing, which CMHC is proud to have been able to support,” says Yannick Monaghan, Affordable Housing Regional Manager at CMHC. “It is a meaningful collaborative effort between the City of Calgary, CMHC and the non-profit sector that will undoubtedly help the City progress its affordable housing goals.”

The City’s Real Estate & Development Services business unit was instrumental in the success of this land transaction process, having released the City-owned land at below-market value to support non-profit housing providers in the development of more affordable units.

The selected non-profits will now be required to go through the development permit, land use amendment approval process (where applicable) and community engagement, prior to starting construction on the site. The seventh development site that was released for sale will not be sold through this land transfer as there was limited interest in the site from non-profits.

This initiative is expected to yield up to 165 new affordable homes, helping to provide safe and stable housing to more Calgarians.

For more information, visit:
calgary.ca/realestate
calgary.ca/affordablehousing
cmhc-schl.gc.ca/affordablehousing

Affordable Housing Provider

Address

Community

Homes for Heroes Foundation

902-912 36 Street SE

Forest Lawn

HomeSpace Society

3725 10 Avenue SE/1104 36 Street SE

Forest Lawn

Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta

1305/1313 36 Street SE

Albert Park/Radisson Heights

Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta

1523-1527 36 Street SE

Albert Park/Radisson Heights

HomeSpace Society

344 14 Street NW

Hillhurst Sunnyside

HomeSpace Society

933 5 Avenue SW

Downtown Commercial Core

Local media are welcomed to make use of and repurpose copies of the video and sound files found on the dropbox linked below.

Featured spokespersons:Mayor Naheed NenshiSarah Woodgate, Director of Calgary Housing and President of Calgary Housing Company

Please click here to access the dropbox files:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/n79s1a8sb593lu3/AAChfB4L7bEBQlYtHKdw612Aa?dl=0

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