Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Calgary

City agency aims to build 250 affordable townhouses on former school site in southeast Calgary

Attainable Homes Calgary is planning to build the units in Albert Park, on a 8.77 acre plot known as the David D. Oughton site, named for the public school that used to stand there. 

Units to be built on 8.77 acre vacant plot known as the David D. Oughton site

CBC News ·
An image of the David D. Oughton site in east Calgary as shown to council on June 13, 2023.
An image of the David D. Oughton site in east Calgary as shown to council on June 13, 2023. The vacant land can be seen in the bottom quarter of the image. (Attainable Homes Calgary)

A city agency is planning to build 250 new townhomes on a vacant site in southeast Calgary. 
    
Attainable Homes Calgary is planning to build the units in Albert Park/Radisson Heights, on a 8.77 acre plot known as the David D. Oughton site, named for the public school that used to stand there. 

Jayden Tait, president and CEO of the agency, wants to get the project moving as soon as possible. 

"If we can go the way we want to, we could bring housing on there before the end of next year, but there's a lot of work to be done both with the partner and the community and other people involved," he told council Tuesday.  

Four years ago, the city had inked a deal with a local developer to build on the land. 

However, after various delays, another agency overseeing the land, the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), started looking for another option. 

CEO Kate Thompson said that they just couldn't wait any longer. 

"The need for housing in our city — we've talked about it ad nauseam at various locations — and it's very real," she said. "I think this is part of the solution."

Her agency made a deal with Attainable Homes Calgary.

Under the framework of the deal, Attainable Homes Calgary would work to build the townhome units, sell them to their new owners and then pay CMLC for the land.

Tait said it could take a few years for the entire project to be completed. But if all goes to plan, the first homeowners could move in by the end of 2024. 

However, Tait told council it's unclear when any homes could be completed if the project gets bogged down in an open-ended review process.

"I don't think that's a good outcome for anyone," he said. 

Attainable Homes Calgary works to help middle-income Calgarians achieve homeownership and the opportunity to build wealth. 

One of the agency's recently completed projects was in Martindale, where units from one-bedroom flats to three-level townhouses sold from $145,000 to $320,000. 

Incomes needed for these mortgages ranged from $60,000 to $100,000. The median Calgary household income is around $85,000, according to Statistics Canada. 

Last week, the city voted to endorse recommendations from a Housing and Affordability Task Force. Among main recommendations was making it easier to build housing in the city. 

When asked by council about how to make building easier, Tait said if the city tweaked land use rules, building applications for plans similar to those undertaken by Attainable Homes Calgary could be much processed much faster and lead to more houses being built. 

"You would see timelines shrink dramatically," he said, noting that applications could take weeks to process instead of several months. 

With files from Scott Dippel

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|

Related Stories