Rosedale community gets a special delivery of new Calgary Housing
Rosedale was the location for a unique sight in Calgary this morning – new houses, which appeared overnight.
The neighbourhood is where 16 new homes, built as eight, double-unit houses, are being delivered to parcels left over from the widening of 16 Ave. N.W. from 2002-2010. Taking advantage of zoning for secondary suites, The City was able to find an innovative and attractive use for these small remnant spaces to benefit Calgary families.
But what’s most interesting about the new homes isn’t that they are attractive or that they use the remnant spaces at a lower cost to Calgarians – It’s the fact that they were built off-site and craned in while neighbours slept.
The new homes, funded by The City, the Province of Alberta and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, use prefabricated components built to detailed specifications offsite and delivered as a unit to the site. While construction on the homes began in July 2019, there was little noticeable change to the lots before the homes were delivered. The choice to use prefabrication as a delivery technique was deliberate. The benefits of this mode of construction include speed of completion at site and reduced construction impact on the community. The homes are estimated to be complete and ready for occupancy in the early months of 2020.
Since homes need to be delivered over a sound wall on 16 Ave., the deliveries are taking place by crane overnight to minimize disruption to traffic along the Trans-Canada Hwy.
“These deliveries will really keep impact on the community to a minimum,” says Bruce Irvine, Manager of Affordable Housing with The City of Calgary. “The bulk of construction took place far from here in a climate-controlled environment. The contractors still have work to do to connect utilities and finish the interiors, but we’ve eliminated months of noise, traffic, dust and irritation for the neighbours.”
Each new home has a unique design to fit with the character of the neighbourhood, while landscaping at each site will increase sense of ownership, privacy and community. The designs came together through engagement with the community between 2015-2017. The homes include one, two, and three-bedroom units capable of housing a range of different family configurations. The homes will be managed by Calgary Housing Company with rents set according to a mixed income model where tenants of mixed financial means are blended together. This maintains long-term financial sustainability for the portfolio as the rents closer to market-rate help offset costs for deeper-discount units. It also provides an inclusionary approach to housing, bringing people from different financial backgrounds together as neighbours.
“The Rosedale development supports The City’s strategy to make affordable housing more readily available to individuals and families in every neighbourhood in Calgary,” said Sarah Woodgate, Director of Calgary Housing. “I’m so pleased with the way we worked with our federal and provincial partners as well as the community to make this development happen in these unique spaces, and in a way that avoids disruption in the community. “
You can learn more about the development and see the home designs at www.calgary.ca/rosedale.