Award winning homes in Rosedale are ready for occupancy

Innovative homes in inner-city Rosedale showcase unique approach to creating affordable housing.

The City of Calgary’s newest affordable housing development is now complete in the community of Rosedale, delivering 16 new homes to serve low-to-middle income Calgarians.

This exciting project has turned eight sites that were considered unsuitable for housing into 16 one,two- and three-bedroom units.

The Rosedale affordable housing demonstrates how common barriers to redevelopment and rezoning in mature neighborhoods can be overcome with creativity and innovation. On the Rosedale project, this included both designing homes specifically to fit on small pieces of land and the use of pre-manufactured housing to minimize the disruption that construction can have on established communities.

Modular construction offers a variety of benefits according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Company including both the ability to build year-round and to build parts of a home simultaneously. Construction of the units continued through the winter in a controlled indoor environment and homes were delivered to site starting in November 2019. The homes were hoisted over the 16th Avenue sound wall by crane at night to minimize disruptions.

“Rosedale presented a unique challenge in making use of what was previously considered remnant lands,” says Bruce Irvine, Manager of Affordable Housing for The City of Calgary. “To reduce the disruption to neighbours and to explore new approaches we employed modular development to efficiently deliver quality affordable housing, while overcoming barriers of traditional construction.”

He adds that the Rosedale project is the first such affordable housing development for Calgary Housing and will be studied to understand if this approach to development should be used more frequently.

Photos provided by the Affordable Housing division of the City of Calgary.

This exciting project has garnered significant attention – winning one award before it was even completed. In November of 2019, in the midst of development, Rosedale was awarded the Mayor’s Urban Design Award for Housing Innovation. The project was selected because of the unique design of homes being built on remnant land while maintaining the character of the neighbourhood. The judges described it as an affordable housing project that “doesn’t feel like affordable housing,” and added that it is innovative in the way it uses leftover pieces of land that were “too narrow for much of anything.”

The Rosedale development supports The City of Calgary’s strategy to make affordable housing more readily available to individuals and families in every neighbourhood in the city. The homes were developed by The City’s Affordable Housing division, with the first set being delivered in October of 2019 and the remaining units delivered in early 2020. Interior finishing and exterior cladding was then completed, and all 16 units are now being turned over to Calgary Housing Company who will manage the units.

The new homes accommodate individuals and families living on lower income with rents being set according to a mixed income model. This helps to maintain the financial sustainability of the building and provide an inclusionary approach to housing, where tenants of mixed financial means are blended together.