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

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.

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 byAttainable 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.