Onward Homes has been named the partner for the redevelopment of the land around Franklin LRT Station, the next step in the area’s revitalization.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek and Onward Homes board chair Bryan Romanesky made the announcement on May 13, 2025, and now work begins on getting to a potential 2026 groundbreaking on the project.

The City of Calgary had initially signalled its intention to make the Franklin LRT land available last January, telling LWC at the time that it wanted to redevelop the area.

Romanesky said the plan envisions around 350 units with 50 per cent of them at below market value, and the mix of units will include three-bedroom configurations for families.

“To me, this is very personal. Housing isn’t just where people live or sleep, this is the community they are going to be in,” he said.

“They need to be feeling safe, proud, supported, and they need to feel like they belong in a project like this one.”

The goal is also to create accessible units, so Onward can provide a variety of housing options for many of their more than 30 partner organizations.

“I mean, our goal is not only to build something that will fit in. We want to make sure that we can build together and build something that’s creative and innovative,” said Romanesky.

“We want to make sure we do it properly. We want to make sure that we honor our partnership with everybody involved, and we want to make sure that we can bring to Calgarians something that we’ll be proud of.”

The Onward Homes plan was also successful in receiving $9.5 million in Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) assistance.

More homes for Calgarians in need

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that more than 84,000 Calgarians spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, just to keep a roof over their heads.

“That’s unacceptable, and that’s why we need to keep moving forward with great projects like this,” the mayor said.  

“I want to thank Onward for stepping up and sharing our commitment to deliver housing with daily and I want to thank our federal partners for investing in our city.”

Romanesky said that this location was suitable for several different reasons, not least of which is access to transit.

“First of all, proximity to the inner city, proximity to services, and by far, the fact that it’s a transit site,” he said.

“Our tenants, 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. Transit site just opens up the door for them to reach the whole city just from their doorstep.”

The project to find these kinds of transit-oriented development spots on city-owned land is part of Calgary’s housing strategy.

“Transit-oriented communities support The City’s efforts to increase housing supply, choice and affordability,” said Reid Hendry, Chief Housing Officer.

“We’re excited to partner with Onward to transform the Franklin Station area with hundreds of new homes, creating easy and convenient access to transit and improving quality of life for the Calgarians who will call it home.” 

The overall plan for the area includes amenity upgrades for the surrounding lands and roadways. The goal is for it to be a mixed-use area.

Romanesky said they would begin community engagement in the very near future. They are working on detailed designs for the location right now.

“We’d like to be in the ground in 2026 and see how fast we can go from there and hopefully be able to provide those units as soon as possible,” he said.