Many in Calgary must be asking themselves “Will the residential boom continue in 2025 - or will this be the year Calgary’s latest boom begins to decline?” Record population growth over the past several years has meant record housing starts, but we all know this can’t continue forever. Or can it?

Let’s have a look at some of the major multi-family condo and purpose-built rental projects in the works across the city.

Inner City Urban Developments

In 2025, several of the downtown office-to-residential conversions will be completed and perhaps a few new ones announced; this will continue the slow evolution of our downtown core into a place not just to work but a place to live.

West District is a new master planned community that includes a Main Street and Central Park surrounded by condos and apartment dwellings. It currently has the most construction cranes in the city.

But the big downtown residential news in 2025 would be if the Nexen Tower owners announced plans for its redevelopment.

Perkins&Will, have released a speculative proposal to convert the tower into a vertical, post-secondary campus that combines, student housing, a post-secondary school and a student/community gathering space at the base and a bike hub in the parkade.

This idea may not be as far-fetched as some would think. It has recently been announce that the University of Calgary will occupy the bottom 7 floors of the Nexen Tower, making way for it to be redeveloped as with student housing above.

Next to Cowboy Park (aka Millenium Park) 2025 should see the start of the construction of the third 42-storey West Village tower by Cidex which also includes a commercial space at the corner of 8th Ave and 10th St. SW which may even include an urban grocery store.

Eau Claire will get its first new tower in a while as residents will start moving into “first & park” in 2025. This 18-storey, 211-home condo by Graywood Developments sold out before occupation commenced - a sign there is a healthy demand for downtown residential development.

The Beltline will see the beginning of construction of two new luxury residential towers by Truman. The 36-storey Lincoln Tower (11th Ave and 2nd St SW) has an elegant art deco design, while the 30-storey Imperia (11th at 4th St SW), has a quirkier, contemporary design with a dramatic street entrance and sky garden in the middle of the tower. And, Amble Ventures’ Yellowstone, a 20-storey, 205-home tower, is already under construction in the same vicinity at 536 14th Ave SW.

In Kensington, it is anticipated construction of the luxury The Kenten development (Kensington Road and 10th St SW) will begin. But the big news is Attainable Homes Calgary (AHC) is aggressively working to develop the Sunnyside Triangle site next to the LRT tracks at 2nd Avenue NW. AHC, a not-for-profit housing developer, plans to add 200+ homes in a 6-storey building, utilizing ATCO’s off-site construction technology which will fast track completion of this project. Attainable Homes will also complete its first affordable rental project in Downtown West (9th Street at 7th Ave SW) in 2025.

Rendering of Truman’s Lincoln Tower currently under construction. (photo: Skyrise Calgary)

Imperia by Truman, also under construction us the tower with the garden in the middle of it. (photo: Skyrise Calgary)

Transit Oriented residential development

Could 2025 be the year the City gets serious about the redevelopment of the Westbrook Station land that has been vacant for 10+ years? This is City’s best site for its next high density (20+ storey), mixed-use, transit-oriented urban village. Let’s hope so!

In the NE, look for more details on the City’s recent approval of residential development on city land next to the Franklin LRT Station. The City is looking at several apartment buildings between six to 26-storeys tall, with a mix of affordable and market housing. It would be great to see the same thing happen at Marlborough Mall’s underutilized parking lot.

Perhaps the city needs an incentive plan to encourage the conversion of empty retail parking lots near major transit routes to residential across the city - like the downtown office conversion program

As well, Northland Mall’s transformation from shopping mall to urban village with more residential development will continue in 2025.

Link: Calgary’s NE Quadrant ripe for transit oriented development

In addition to the Franklin Station park and ride parking lot, there are several other under-used surface parking lots, next to NE LRT stations, that are ripe for redevelopment.

School site residential developments

Another ideal inner-city residential site vacant for several years is the Viscount Bennett School on Crowchild Trail at Richmond Road. In 2024, Minto Communities shared its plans with the community for the redevelopment of the site as a medium density master-planned community. Look for more details and approvals on the proposed 2,500 dwelling project with 11 multi-family buildings ranging from four to six storeys in 2025.

View of the huge Viscount Bennett School site from Crowchild Trail.

On Kensington Road at 23rd St NW, the mid-century modern Louise Dean school site has been vacated. The entire block would be an ideal site for mixed income (affordable and market) six to eight storey development along a BRT route within walking distance to Queen Elizabeth School.

Just a few blocks east at Kensington Road and 18th St NW - the eight storey Frontier building on the old Legion site will be completed in 2025. It has been a long wait for West Hillhursters, many of whom are hoping it will include an urban grocer.

And just a few blocks south the old CBC site (1706 Westmount Road) has been vacant since 2017. Let’s hope 2025 is the year Anthem commences construction. The current plan calls for three, 6-storey buildings adding 269 new homes along the Bow River. Speaking of Anthem, one has to wonder when they will pull the trigger on their mega project across from Erlton Station. Could 2025 be the year?

Proposed redevelopment of the CBC site along Memorial Drive next to the Bow River by Anthem

Suburban Urban Villages

In the suburbs, the big news is the expansion of Westman Village with the announcement of Beverly May Resort which will add eight new buildings to the village, including three16-storey highrises. Look for this development to get approved in 2025 with construction beginning in 2026.

Jayman Living is working on a second mega urban village called Nostalgia at the southeast edge of the City that is even more ambitious. More details are expected in 2025 on the mega private recreation centre (on par with The Glencoe) that will anchor this new urban village.

On the west side in Wellington, is West District a huge development by Truman with many similarities to University District. Look for the new Sobeys grocery store on Broadcast Avenue (its planned 8-block main street) to open in 2025, as well as couple of block-long residential buildings with new retailers along the street. counted 4 construction cranes on a recent walkabout, which I expect is more than any other neighbourhood in the city.

Not far from West District is Willows on the northwest corner of 77th St and 17th Ave SW, where Truman is in the process of constructing four 10-storey buildings with 700 homes. Also nearby, Trico is in the early stages of a major multi-family development on the northwest corner of 85th St and Bow Trail.

Early renderings for Beverly May Resort development in Mahogany (photo: Skyrise Calgary)

Last Word

But perhaps the biggest residential development issue of 2025 will be to see how the new blanket rezoning plays out. Will the court challenge be successful? Will the new zoning result in 1,000s of new infill homes being approved in established communities, compared to previous years? Or will it Calgary’s infill development continue to grow at the same pace as it has for the past 10+ years.

And, of course only time will tell if 2025 will be a turning point in Calgary’s endless boom and bust cycle of residential development. The biggest unknown is how the new American President will impact Canada and particularly Alberta’s economy in 2025.

Calgary 2025: Boom or Bust?

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