A supportive housing project that would cater to some of Calgary’s most complex-needs individuals will be considered by the Calgary planning commission Thursday.
The rezoning application refers to a project led by HomeSpace Society, a Calgary-based below-market housing provider.
HomeSpace intends to develop a 56-unit supportive housing facility in Meridian, a commercial office and business park that lies just north of Memorial Drive, east of Barlow Trail and west of the Franklin LRT station park-and-ride lot.
The property, located at 2612 – 3rd Avenue S.E., would be staffed 24-7 with social workers and mental health professionals on-site who are trained to support high-complexity tenants.
The project was spurred by a notice of motion in 2024 from former councillors Kourtney Penner and Courtney Walcott, who directed administration to find HomeSpace Society a suitable parcel of surplus city-owned land that could be sold at nominal value.
After a comprehensive search, the city’s real estate development team settled on the parcel at the corner of 25th Street and 3rd Avenue S.E.
The site is currently undeveloped greenspace, located between a handful of high-rise offices that include Alta Link’s headquarters and the Wood office building, both of which overlook Memorial Drive.
The Wood office building near the proposed HomeSpace development.
Bernadette Majdell, chief executive of HomeSpace Society, said the site was ideal for the supportive housing project, as it’s outside of the downtown, but still accessible by public transit. It’s also close to residential areas and a suitable size, as the non-profit requires at least one acre of space.
“We went through quite a number of sites before arriving at this one,” she said in an interview.
“It ticked a lot of our boxes.”
The development will cater to the “most vulnerable” Calgarians, according to Majdell, including those who experience chronic homelessness or addiction, and require wraparound supports. The site is not intended to act as an emergency shelter, but rather as permanent, staff-supported housing.
“Really, what we’re looking at here is trying to work with some of the most vulnerable that we would see presented in the downtown core right now,” she said.
“We see this facility as likely post-treatment, definitely part of the recovery continuum, really targeting the folks who CPS is dealing with, fire is dealing with, in the downtown core around complexity, mental health, physical health and addiction.”
Majdell conceded some surrounding office businesses have voiced consternation about the proposal, though dismissed those concerns.
“Any time HomeSpace has done a project — 18 developments — we’ve never been warmly welcomed by our neighbours,” she said.
“I think there are always concerns with the housing we provide, in terms of supporting vulnerable Calgarians. We’ve heard that from the neighbouring business owners and landowners, and really, from our perspective, it was pure NIMBY.”
Postmedia reached out to several of the surrounding businesses Wednesday, but they either did not respond or declined to comment.
The public engagement and outreach summary — a requirement of any land use application — notes that community feedback centered primarily around safety.
“Some residents and stakeholders raised questions and concerns about community safety and security associated with the proposed development,” it reads.
The city’s cover report also notes administration received six letters of opposition about the project.
While council members don’t serve on the planning commission, Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot, the area representative, said he’s heard frustration from surrounding businesses that communities east of Deerfoot are becoming inundated with social support facilities.
“There’s been a proliferation of social services that have cropped up in the greater Forest Lawn area in the last while that leads to the question of whether or not we’re saturating the area with these types of social services,” he said in an interview.
He also mentioned that one of the adjacent businesses — though declined to say which — had long intended to purchase the city-owned parcel in Meridian, but that the city ultimately decided to sell it to HomeSpace instead.
“They don’t understand the process as to why they were overlooked,” Chabot said.
“Secondly, the kind of use being proposed there is completely out of context and inappropriate for the area in light of the current transitioning from its previous light industrial (zoning) to something that is more a mixed-use type of development.”
If the planning commission endorses HomeSpace’s land use application on Thursday, the rezoning would advance to city council’s public hearing meeting in November. The project would also require the city’s planning department to approve a development permit.