The City of Calgary is pleased to announce that three 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. New to this round, The City is also offering a brand-new funding program to purchasers of the sites to expedite construction and open doors as quickly as possible.
“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 three affordable housing sites available for sale, along with the addition of a much-needed grant program to accelerate construction. This will move more Calgarians from precarious living situations to safe homes, close to community amenities,” says Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
The three land sites are located in the communities of Bowness, Parkdale and Erlton, and were selected for their close proximity to amenities such as transit, grocery stores and employment.
This is the third round of The City’s program to offer land to non-profit organizations at below market value. The previous two rounds were launched in 2018 and 2020 and have delivered more than 280 homes either completed or in construction.
City lands are sold below market value to give organizations whose priority is to develop affordable housing, 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.
Leveraging City-owned land is a key objective of Foundations for Home, Calgary’s Corporate Affordable Housing Strategy. To further this critical work, Administration will be taking a report to the Community Development Committee on 2023 March 16 proposing policy changes to support Indigenous led housing and a number of initiatives to increase the supply of land available for affordable housing.
Applications to purchase the sites will be accepted from March 13 to April 28, 2023. Applicants must be a non-profit provider with experience in the supply and management of non-market housing. Once the selection process is complete, successful applicants will be required to go through the development permit and/or land use amendment approval process, including community engagement, prior to starting construction.
