Re-occupancy of Bridgeland Place affordable housing high-rise pushed to late 2028

Work is getting underway this week on a $90-million project to refurbish Bridgeland Place — an affordable housing high-rise located across the Bow River from downtown Calgary.

While the project’s completion date has been extended from what was originally expected, the building will ultimately help address the affordable housing situation in the city by adding 203 units into the market.

“In order for us to maintain an acceptable level of service for our residents, the building needed to be upgraded at a pretty substantial amount,” said Bo Jiang, Calgary Housing’s interim chief executive.

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“(Gutting it) provided the best opportunity for us to do it right, so we were able to clean out any hazardous materials that might have been still in the building, as well as make sure of the structural integrity of the core structure.”

Redevelopment of the city-owned asset, which was originally built in 1971 on the north side of Memorial Drive, is under the management of Calgary Housing, a wholly owned subsidiary.

The tower previously included 210 rentals, providing low-income Calgarians with subsidized, below-market housing for more than 50 years. It was decommissioned and vacated in 2023, after Bridgeland Place was deemed to be past its serviceable life and issues were cited with its water and ventilation systems.

After its final tenants were moved out and relocated, the tower’s interior was stripped down to the concrete in 2024, in preparation of installing new electrical, water, heating and ventilation systems and plumbing.

Last winter, Calgary Housing submitted a development permit to the city to refurbish the tower’s amenities and to upgrade the original exterior cladding with a more energy-efficient building envelope.

Redevelopment of the exterior envelope will begin this week, to make it more weather-resistant and energy-efficient. To that end, cladding and windows will be replaced and balconies will be removed.

But with strong bones and its structural integrity intact, the tower has been spared from demolition, Jiang said, adding inspections earlier this decade revealed Bridgeland Place’s concrete was still in good condition.

“So the decision that we made to keep it was validated once more, and we continue to go down the path of just renewing the building rather than demolishing and rebuilding,” he said.

The timeline for the overhaul is two years and Jiang said new tenants should be moving into the tower by late 2028 or early 2029.