Another office-to-residential conversion will soon be taking shape in downtown Calgary, as 135,000 sq. ft. of underused office space will be transformed into 166 apartments in the Barclay Centre building at 606 4th St. SW. The conversion is part of the city’s Downtown Calgary Development Incentive program and is owned by Dream Office REIT and will be developed by Dream Unlimited Corp. "This conversion is another example of how working with the private sector is reshaping our downtown while delivering housing, driving economic growth,” says Mayor Jyoti Gondek. The apartments will be configured in studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom floorplans that are scheduled to be available to rent in late 2027. A statement from the City of Calgary says 27% of the apartments will align with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC) housing affordability guidelines, which are when shelter costs (mortgage payment, rent, property taxes, etc.) do not exceed 30% of a household’s pre-tax income. The conversion is a joint venture with CMHC, through the federal Liberal's Housing Accelerator Fund. “Our government is committed to driving housing supply to bring housing costs down,” said Corey Hogan, parliamentary secretary, Member of Parliament for Calgary Confederation. “This project will create more much-needed rental homes for the people living and working in Calgary. It’s an example of what’s possible when governments and the private sector work together.” . Within walking distance are Courthouse Park, Harley Hotchkiss Gardens, two C-train stations and the CORE Shopping Centre, while the converted building will include a number of amenities, such as a fitness facility, media and social lounges, coworking spaces, and a landscaped outdoor patio complete with barbecue areas, said Jay Jiang, chief financial officer of Dream Office REIT. “We are proud to partner with the CMHC and the city on this transformative project,” said Jiang. “It’s a powerful example of how public-private collaboration can creatively address housing needs while transforming underused office space into vibrant residential communities in the heart of downtown.” The Downtown Calgary Development Incentive Program is part of the City of Calgary's Downtown Strategy, which was launched in 2021 and has generated $4 in private investment for every $1 of public funding downtown, according to the city's statement. To date, says the city, the program has overseen three completed conversions, the most recent being the Element Calgary Downtown, with four more conversions scheduled to open in 2025. Under the program, 21 office conversion projects have been approved, repurposing more than 2.68 million sq. ft. of vacant office space into 2,628 new homes and 226 hotel rooms.
