A downtown Calgary office building is being converted into over 160 homes as part of the city’s office-residential conversion initiative.
The 55-year-old Barclay Centre at 606 4 Street SW, which held the Canadian Western Bank, is being “reimagined” as a modern residential community, the City of Calgary announced Wednesday.
Around 135,000 square feet of office space is being converted into 166 studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom suites set to open in late 2027.
The city says around 25 per cent of the units will count as affordable per the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) guidelines.
The building will have access to a shared fitness facility, media and social lounges, coworking spaces, and a landscaped outdoor patio with barbecue areas.
Dream Office Real Estate Investment Trust owns the project, with Dream Unlimited Corp. as the development manager.
The city says the Dream Group of Companies, which owns and manages “high-quality office properties,” has over $28 billion in assets across North America and Europe.
Announced in 2021 and relaunched in 2024, the Downtown Calgary Development Incentive Program is expected to add more than 1,100 new homes within two blocks of the downtown west end, along with $350 million in private investment.
The goal is to remove six million square feet of vacant office space by 2031. There are three complete conversions in the city, and another four are expected to open in 2025.
Twenty-one office conversion spaces have been approved so far, which has led to the repurposing of 2.68 million square feet of vacant office space into 2,628 new homes and 226 hotel rooms, according to the city.