Onward Homes to take lead on Franklin LRT park-and-ride housing project
Onward Homes will be the developer tasked with converting one of the park-and-ride lots at the Franklin LRT Station into housing.
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The developer, which was unveiled Wednesday at city hall, intends to build up to 350 housing units, ranging from one- to three-bedroom apartments, on the lot just south of Memorial Drive.
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About half of those units will be for below-market rates, catering to seniors, low-income families and tenants with disabilities, said Bryan Romanesky, chair of Onward Homes' board of directors. He added that Onward works with more than 30 service partners to support its most vulnerable tenants.
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What attracted Onward to the project, Romanesky said, was the site's proximity to Calgary's downtown, as well as other nearby amenities, which include two schools and Marlborough Mall.
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'Our clients generally don't have a car, so we always try to select sites that will give them the opportunity to walk to grocery stores, appointments and so on,' he said. 'A transit site just opens up the door for them to reach the whole city, just in their doorstep.'
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Conceptual design of the future housing site, which will have a maximum height of six storeys, is underway. Site planning and public consultation will continue through this year, Romanesky said, with hopes for construction to start in May 2026. He declined to speculate when the housing would come online, however.
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'We'll keep going here as fast as we can,' he said. 'Hopefully we'll be able to provide those units as soon as possible.'
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The project will be supported by $9.5 million from Calgary's allotment of the federal Housing Accelerator Fund.
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Mayor Jyoti Gondek touted the city's housing strategy, which includes a directive to leverage city-owned land for housing initiatives, in accelerating the transit-oriented development (TOD) project.
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The Franklin project will be the city's first attempt at redeveloping a CTrain park-and-ride lot into housing. The development also includes public safety improvements along adjacent Radcliffe Drive S.E. and investments to a public park in Albert Park/Radisson Heights.
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'Franklin Station was chosen because it has the ability to connect people to opportunity, to community and to each other,' Gondek said. 'It will not only bring new homes, but it will also bring upgrades to public spaces, to pedestrian pathways and transit connections to create a safe, vibrant and walkable neighbourhood.'
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