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Downtown Real Estate

The link to the press release for the Attainable Housing Incentive is working now.
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Attainable Housing Incentive to accelerate downtown residential development
March 18, 2026

The City of Edmonton is taking an important step to increase housing in the downtown core through a $30-million Attainable Housing Incentive. This incentive accelerates the development of attainable housing while encouraging new public infrastructure and economic opportunities in the city’s downtown area.

“The best path forward for downtown continues to be increasing our residential base, adding vibrancy to the area that extends beyond the traditional workday,” said Mayor Andrew Knack. “Together with our development partners, we’re investing in downtown by collaborating on solutions that are business friendly while meeting the growing demands of this vibrant neighbourhood.”

Since 2018, the cost of constructing a high-rise residential building in Edmonton has increased by 44 per cent, while the average apartment rent in the downtown area has only increased by 25 per cent. The Attainable Housing Incentive will function as a tax rebate over a 10-year period based on the number of attainable units built. Applications for this program open later this month.

“Residential growth in our downtown will have a powerful ripple effect that transforms the core into a true 'people-first' hub, naturally drawing in lush parks, thriving local businesses and seamless transit connections,” said Kim Petrin, Deputy City Manager of Urban Planning and Economy. “The City expects to add up to 850 attainable units and up to 3,400 total units through the Attainable Housing Incentive, which will help us meet our downtown population target of 19,000 by 2030.”

The Attainable Housing Incentive uses funds from the Capital City Downtown Community Revitalization Levy, which has invested in transformational revitalization projects that increase local interest and development. Since 2015, the City’s investments have attracted over $5 billion in new private development, including 3,500 residential units and three new office towers.
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For more information:
edmonton.ca/BuildDowntown
 
Kosy123 said:
I'd rather spend grant money first on new construction and buildings first and office conversions last tbh. I get that there's a property tax uplift for lower office vacancy rates, but the amount of money Calgary is throwing at conversions for the units they're getting seem underwhelming. I get it's a different problem and we have a glut of parking and empty lots that makes it easier for us to focus on new builds, but cost-benefit for tax dollars seems better for new builds?

So far for office conversions, we're getting:
  • Phipps Mckinnon Conversion. (100 units)
  • Financial Building Conversion (33 units)
  • McKenney Building Conversion (33 units)
  • CN Tower Conversion (344 units)
  • The Standard on Jasper Conversion (???)
  • WSP Place Conversion (???
Click to expand...
Respectfully I would disagree. It's been the opportunity of the century. Downtown Calgary's biggest flaw was that was too office space heavy. Suddenly a pile of buildings (31 buildings) that someone else paid to build, come free to convert, and as a city you only need to throw in some subsidy money to get the conversions over the finish line and instantly add 4,000 new residential units. It's a gift from the heavens.
For example, the city chipped in $7 million (the cost of about 5 inner city homes) towards a conversion of office into 122 units. It's taxpayer money, but it's a small amount of money to suddenly have 122 units in the core. Attainable Homes Calgary used $7 million of public money to create 22 suites in a brand new building outside of the core.


David A said:
Edmonton was encouraging and doing residential conversions downtown decades ago, before it was even thought of in Calgary, and actually we still are. Although not with the emergency level of public money that they are having to put in now in response to an office vacancy rate that is still considerably higher than ours. I have to laugh if they think they discovered this great idea, when in fact it has been happening elsewhere for a long time.
Click to expand...
This is true. Edmonton, and other cities have done this in the past, Edmonton was one of the first. In all fairness to Calgary, office space rates have never been low enough to warrant conversions, so it's unlikely any one had considered the option. To Calgary's credit, they've taken a lemon and turned it into lemonade. It's been far more successful than anticipated. It should also be noted that not all conversions are using subsidies. Doing so many conversions in such a short time, with the help of a subsidy is why Calgary is suddenly the hotspot for office conversions.
 
$7 million for 5 inner city homes, is $1.4 million each. I don't think houses in the inner city here are anywhere near that, although I don't know about Calgary. It seems high, but perhaps that is the case.

Calgary is the hot spot for office conversions mostly because of the millions of square feet of empty office space. Both our vacancy rate and the actual amount of vacant space here is far lower.

Yes, they are trying to make lemonade from lemons, but the situation here is really not the same. I am not against copying what works elsewhere, but the circumstances here are different and more conversions seem to happening here now without public subsidy. Many landlords do realize, there is no incentive for an old building to remain empty for years while costs still have to be paid and so come up with solutions on their own.
 
Job Type
Major Development Permit
External ID
651049466-002
Location
10700 - 104 AVENUE NW Plan 2121375 Blk 20 Lot 102
Description
Alteration of (an) existing building(s), Exterior Alteration, Change of Use / Interior Alterations
Applicant
CHANDOS CONSTRUCTION LTD
Development Category

Date Created
March 18, 2026
Status
Intake Review
Development Permit Decision Date
Development Permit Decision not yet made*
Development Permit Decision Date Published on this Webpage

Neighbourhood
DOWNTOWN
 
IanO said:
Job Type
Major Development Permit
External ID
651049466-002
Location
10700 - 104 AVENUE NW Plan 2121375 Blk 20 Lot 102
Description
Alteration of (an) existing building(s), Exterior Alteration, Change of Use / Interior Alterations
Applicant
CHANDOS CONSTRUCTION LTD
Development Category

Date Created
March 18, 2026
Status
Intake Review
Development Permit Decision Date
Development Permit Decision not yet made*
Development Permit Decision Date Published on this Webpage

Neighbourhood
DOWNTOWN
Click to expand...
Is that part of MacEwan?
 
Attainable Housing Incentive Launched

Thank you for your interest in downtown residential development. We are excited to announce that the City of Edmonton has officially launched the application for the Attainable Housing Incentive.

This $30-million program is designed to offset rising construction costs and accelerate the delivery of attainable units in the Capital City Downtown Community Revitalization Levy area.

Program Overview

Incentive Structure: A partial property tax rebate provided over a 10-year period, calculated based on the number of attainable units built.

Target: The City aims to add 570-850 attainable units (up to 3,400 total units) to support a downtown population goal of 24,000 by 2030.

Program Launch: The application is available online now. Submissions will be accepted starting March 31, 2026, at 12:00 pm MST. The City will enter into grant agreements on a first-come, first-served basis.

To learn more about the program, guidelines and eligibility criteria, visit:
edmonton.ca/BuildDowntown
 
David A said:
$7 million for 5 inner city homes, is $1.4 million each. I don't think houses in the inner city here are anywhere near that, although I don't know about Calgary. It seems high, but perhaps that is the case.

Calgary is the hot spot for office conversions mostly because of the millions of square feet of empty office space. Both our vacancy rate and the actual amount of vacant space here is far lower.

Yes, they are trying to make lemonade from lemons, but the situation here is really not the same. I am not against copying what works elsewhere, but the circumstances here are different and more conversions seem to happening here now without public subsidy. Many landlords do realize, there is no incentive for an old building to remain empty for years while costs still have to be paid and so come up with solutions on their own.
Click to expand...
$7 mil is about the going rate for 5 inner city single family homes in Calgary, for neighborhoods in around the core. Maybe a bit exaggerated, but the point being $7 million isn’t much in the grand scheme of housing costs.

I agree the situation is different in Edmonton. I don't think Calgary's office conversion subsidy strategy works for most cities, Calgary's situation is unique, and other cities could do different subsidies to accomplish the same goal. I was only pointing out that for Calgary's case the subsidy is a great program. It accomplishes good things for not much money and there's no downside to this program.
- It adds thousands of residential units quickly, with many conversions taking less then a year to complete.
- It shifts the balance from an office heavy core that was really busy during the day, and dead at night to one that's more balanced.

The biggest benefit, IMO is how quickly the turnover is. This building for example, the city chipped in $7 million and it was converted in less than a year adding 132 units.

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