Affordable Housing Innovation in Rosedale

An affordable housing project in Rosedale is turning small parcels of land left over from the Trans-Canada highway widening project into quality affordable housing for families. It is the first pre-manufactured affordable housing project being developed by Calgary Housing where homes were built off-site and delivered to the site.

On January 28, the last of sixteen pre-fabricated homes were lifted by a crane over the trans-Canada Highway noise barrier in Rosedale – a new birth in the era of delivering innovative, affordable housing in Calgary and across Canada!

“It was incredible to see the crews delivering the new affordable homes.” said Sarah Woodgate, Director of Calgary Housing.

The project is exciting because The City found a way to turn these under-utilized and not highly sought after spaces that were deemed unsuitable for housing into sites that will each contain 2 homes. The Affordable Housing division at the City of Calgary believes this approach to development can be easily repeated in sites across Canada, overcoming common barriers of redevelopment and rezoning in mature neighborhoods. The Rosedale development supports The City’s strategy to make affordable housing more readily available to individuals and families in every neighbourhood in Calgary.

“Building on surplus City land helps us reduce the overall cost to deliver new homes.” said Woodgate. “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. “

Prefabricating the units off site eliminated months of noise, traffic, dust and irritation for the neighbours.

After being delivered on site, each home will undergo the final on-site construction including final cladding, mechanical and electrical tie-in, interior finishing and landscaping. Each new home will have a unique design to fit with the character of the neighbourhood, and the final design is an affordable housing that blends into the established neighborhood. The project won the 2019 Mayors Urban Design Awards in the Housing Innovation Category.

Each new home will have a unique design to fit with the character of the neighbourhood.

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.