Downtown office conversion programs
Downtown office conversion programs
The City of Calgary is working with our downtown partners to revitalize our downtown by co-investing and converting vacant office space into:
- Homes for calgarians
- Post-secondary academic spaces and student housing
- Hotels
- Other uses that revitalize downtown
We’re also incentivizing the demolition of end-of-life office buildings.
A thriving downtown means a thriving Calgary. Repurposing vacant office space in the downtown to build more homes, and encourage students and post-secondary institutions to locate downtown. This will all contribute to more connected, vibrant, diverse and resilient downtown neighbourhoods.
Our office-to-residential program is nearing capacity with projects in the pipeline and the funding we currently have in place.
We continue to work with other orders of government to encourage their support and investment in our office conversion programs. Additional funding will enable us to offer the program again in the future.
Our goal
Remove 6 million square feet of vacant office space by 2031
Partners in revitalization
$567M partner investment in Calgary's downtown
Our total pipeline
17 office conversion projects
*captures 13 active projects and 4 under review
2,300+ new homes
possible for Calgarians in downtown
2.3 million square feet
conversion of vacant office space possible
Incentive programs
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Downtown post-secondary institution incentive program
Funding for the downtown post-secondary institution incentive program is still available. This program provides incentives for office space conversions to post-secondary institutions to establish a greater presence downtown. Complementary to this program, we are also exploring how we can invest in student housing and/or student-focused housing.
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Downtown office demolition incentive program
The downtown office demolition incentive program supports the demolition of end of life office buildings that are unsuitable for office conversions.
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Downtown Calgary development incentive program
This program for residential, hotel, school and performance space conversions is currently paused while we secure additional funding and update it to meet the priorities of Calgary’s housing strategy.
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Plus 15 Fund offset program
The City is providing $2 million in incentives to developers who initiate residential projects in the downtown core to offset any required plus 15 fund contribution. This removes a potential barrier for new residential development as well as any additions to existing buildings to accommodate new residential use.
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The downtown strategy team welcomes the announcement of the federal government’s investment in bringing new homes to calgarians through the housing accelerator fund. Our team is working internally to confirm the amount of funding available for downtown strategy's office to residential conversion program. Once that amount is confirmed, more information will be shared publicly.
Approved projects
Have questions?
You can also submit an inquiry to the program team at downtownstrategy@calgary.ca.