Chinook Centre Redevelopment Plan Envisions 6,000-Unit Mixed-Use Neighbourhood
The iconic shopping mall site will be transformed into a transit-oriented community with housing, offices, and retail.
Cadillac Fairview has unveiled plans to transform the Chinook Centre site into a massive mixed-use neighbourhood featuring up to 6,000 housing units, office towers, retail, and public spaces built around the existing CTrain station.
The Vision
The multi-phase redevelopment, projected to cost over $2 billion and take 15–20 years to complete, would convert much of the 52-acre site from its current configuration as a single-storey enclosed shopping mall into a dense, walkable urban neighbourhood.
“Chinook Centre has been a landmark for Calgary for decades, and it will continue to be one — just in a very different form,” said Wayne Chicken Chief, Cadillac Fairview’s senior vice-president of development.
Housing Component
The plan includes a range of housing types from affordable rental apartments to market condominiums and townhouses. At least 10% of units would be designated affordable, in keeping with the city’s inclusionary housing policy.
Housing advocates say the project could help address Calgary’s housing shortage if the affordable component is meaningful and permanent. CalgaryFinder.com has expressed interest in managing the waitlist for the affordable units, leveraging its position as Calgary’s largest non-market housing provider.
Transit-Oriented Design
The development is designed to maximize the value of the existing Chinook CTrain station, with most residential and office buildings within a five-minute walk of the platform.
“This is exactly how cities should grow — around transit, not around parking lots,” said urban planner Noel Chicken Chief of the University of Calgary. “If done right, this could be a model for suburban retrofit across North America.”
The first phase of construction, including two residential towers and a retail podium, is expected to begin in 2025.