Indigenous organizations prioritized for Non-Market Housing Land Sale
The City of Calgary is pleased to announce that five new City-owned land sites are now available for sale, at below-market value, to eligible non-profit organizations under The City’s Non-Market Housing Land Sale program. Using funding from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, each site will come with funding of up to $75,000 per door to support the successful purchasers to build housing quickly.
New to this round, The City is prioritizing Indigenous non-profit organizations by opening the application window first to Indigenous organizations, prior to a general application period which will be open to all non-profit affordable housing providers. The sale of these sites is anticipated to produce up to 290 new non-market homes.
"With one in five Calgary families in need of affordable housing, all orders of government, non-profits, and industry must respond with urgency. Today, The City is making five affordable housing sites available for sale, along with the addition of a much-needed pilot funding program to accelerate construction. This will ensure more Calgarians are housed with dignity close to community amenities,” says Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
The five sites are in the communities of Crescent Heights, Haysboro, Erin Woods, Erlton and Shaganappi. They were selected due to their proximity to amenities such as transportation, schools, grocery stores and employment opportunities.
This is the fourth portfolio of City-owned sites offered to non-profit organizations at below market value under the Non-Market Housing Land Sale program. The City has so far contributed $24.6 million in land value through the program and enabled the development of close to 400 homes for Calgarians in need.
City lands are sold below market value to give non-profit organizations the opportunity to develop affordable housing at a discounted rate. This reduces the land cost for non-profit organizations who can turn the savings into more support for affordable housing programs or services.
“We are delighted to be moving ahead with a fourth round of our successful Non-Market Housing Land Sale with the support of federal funding and, new for this round, to be prioritizing Indigenous applicants. This is a really important part of our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and to advancing the goals of our Indigenous housing strategy.” says Tim Ward, Manager, Housing Solutions.
The application window for Indigenous organizations runs from March 18 to April 25, 2024. The application window for all affordable housing organizations will be open from May 27 to July 4, 2024.
Once the selection process is complete, successful applicants will have up to four years to construct the housing, including seeking planning approvals and community engagement.
The Non-Market Housing Land Sale Program is part of The City’s Housing Strategy, which contains 98 actions that address the housing crisis and the multi-faceted, holistic housing inequities faced by Indigenous people who live in Calgary.
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