Calgary’s Multi-Family Boom Continues in 2025

Calgary has experienced record high housing starts for the past three years and 2025 may well make it four years.  This year started off with a bang with Q1 2025 housing starts data from CMHC indicating Calgary led all of Canada’s not only in per capita housing starts, but amazingly also in total starts. Yes, Calgary’s home builders started construction of more homes than Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver cities, respectively five, three and twice as large as us. 

Calgary’s record home starts over the past few years has been led by multi-family projects. No longer do single-family homes dominate Calgary’s new residential developments.

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

The old Trans Alta office building in Victoria Park has been demolished to make way for huge residential development.

Demolition in Downtown

Perhaps the biggest multi-family surprise in 2025 is the continued uptake by developers of the City of Calgary’s “Office to Residential” conversions program. As of the end of October 2025, the demolition of the guts of 21 old office buildings (2.7 million square feet) have been approved to be replaced with 2,600+ new purpose-built rental homes on the edge of the downtown core. This could mean 5,000 more people calling downtown home by 2028. 

In addition, Attainable Homes opened one and started another project at the corner of 9th Street and 7th Avenue SW, together they will create150+ new affordable homes. And Graywood Developments welcomed residents to its new-build 18-storey 211 home First + Park tower on the Bow River this past summer.

In total that adds 3,000 new homes at various stages of development in our downtown that will soon bring the population of Calgarians living south of the tracks to 25,000.

There a several office to residential conversions in the downtown.

Many are in the west end creating a new urban village.

Attainable Homes Calgary (AHC) completed one project and started another in West Downtown. This project is 605 Studio West. The mural on the side of the building was created so the neighbours to the north (also a AHC project) didn’t have to look at a blank wall. How thoughtful is that!

Demolition in the Beltline

Just across the tracks in the Beltline, Vesta Properties announced its ambitious plan to build three towers, totalling 1,000 new homes, at the crossroads of 17th Ave and 4th SW. At 47-storeys, the tallest tower will be the highest “residential only” tower in Calgary.

Just north on 4th Street SW, GWL Realty Advisors started construction of a new 24-storey, 219 new home project. As well, One Properties started the demolition of the Trans Alta office building at the corner of 11th Ave and 1st Street SW to make way for the first of a four tower project with 1,400+ homes.

At the west end of 17th Avenue at 14th Street SW, the mid-century Condon Building was demolished to make way for The Sentinel by Arlington Street Investments (6-storey high building with 314 homes).  And Truman Homes has 600+ homes in three residential towers under construction in the Beltline – Lincoln (36-storeys, 276 homes) and Gallery (19 storeys,120 homes) and Imperia (27 storeys, 273 homes).

The old Danish Canadian Club. Building is also coming down to make way for “Copenhagen House,” a 10-storey, 242 home condo complex.

In total, the Beltline also has 3,000+ new homes at various stages of development.

Lincoln by Truman Homes (from NORR website)

Imperia by Truman Homes (from NORR website)

Demolition in NoBow

North of the Bow River (NoBow), Sable Group of Companies began demolition of Sable Gate to make way for Kenten, 80 luxury homes (starting at 1million dollars) at the corner of Memorial Drive and 10th Street SW. 

North on 10th Street, construction has finally begun on the old Kensington Manor that was condemned and torn down in 2020, which will be replaced by a modern 9-storey apartment building with 88 homes.

And nearby, across from the Safeway, Jemm Properties demolished The Lunenburg Apartments to build Kit at Kensington, a funky16-storey residential building with 158 homes, right across from the LRT station.

Kit at Kensington next to the Sunnyside LRT Station and Kensington Safeway is a great example of Transit Oriented Development.

Nearby, just west of 10th street at 5th Ave NW, Westich Pacific demolished a couple of mid-century walk-up apartment buildings replacing them with a 6-storey, 151 development that includes the conversion the heritage church (former bike shop) to be used as a not-for-profit childcare and education centre.

Further west along Kensington Road, Truman Homes tore down the old Kensington Road Legion to create Frontier a mixed-use residential block that includes a FreshCo urban grocery store as the anchor retail for the 266 new homes that welcomed its first residents this past summer.

Inner-City / Suburban Projects

University District, Currie and West District continue to push ahead with new residential development being announced each year.  But what we don’t often hear about are the other major multi-family projects happening in the ‘burbs.

West District continued to flourish in 2025, with new residential development, park and grocery storey.

A good example is Atlas by Genstar, a 435-home project, consisting of four, six-storey buildings with a European-like interior courtyard in the new northwest community of Carrington. 

Over in Aspen Woods, across from the Aspen Woods Shopping Centre, Truman Homes and Vesta Properties are creating a small town of six-storey residential buildings around a park.  Aspen Village by Vesta is a master-planned community with 13 buildings, totalling 1,200 homes. Next to it is Truman’s Willows community which consists of five multi-family buildings - Phase 4 includes an 11-storey building (372 homes) with retail along the street.

Aspen Village by Vista is a huge project.

In the southeast, Mahogany, Jayman BUILT’s hugely successful Westman Village has spawned Beverly Mary Resort (named after Jay Westman’s mother), an eight building, 950 home village, with five of the buildings being16-storeys high.  

On the west side, Trinity Hills and Greenwich (at Canada Olympic Park) can’t seem to build new residential buildings fast enough. I counted 6 new buildings at various stages of construction over the summer.  Phase one alone has 14 multi-family buildings, and ultimately there will be 3,700 new homes at Trinity Hills creating a new community for 10,000 people.

Trinity Hills from the Trans Canada Highway. (I was a passenger.)

Across the TransCanada Highway, Greenwich is also experiencing a construction boom around the Calgary Farmers’ Market West building. Inspired by its namesake New York City neighbourhood, it consists mostly of brick façade townhomes and low rise multi-family buildings. Construction started this year on Upper Greenwich which includes a canal as its central amenity.

Computer rendering of UpperGreenwich which began construction in 2025.

And last, but not least, Cadillac Fairview announced in November, they will be proceeding with their 20 and 19-storey, 490 home, purpose-built rental towers next to Chinook LRT station. This is great news as the Chinook Centre/Chinook Station area, could become vibrant mixed-use transit-oriented village in the future. 

Last Word

While blanket rezoning and inner-city densification dominated the 2025 city election, densification across the city has been happening for several years now. Today, multi-family buildings (4 storeys and taller), townhomes and duplexes account for about 70% of housing starts with single-family homes accounting for only 30%. Purpose-built rentals account for 70% of all apartment building starts.

Yes, Calgary is building some of the densest new communities in North America. While overall Calgary remains predominately a single-family homes and homeowner city, that is gradually changing - some might argue too rapidly.