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Land around the Westbrook CTrain stop has sat vacant for nearly 15 years, but Calgary is working on a “long-overdue” plan to develop the site.
Non-market housing, park space, pathways and retail space are all on the table, as the city looks to develop long-dormant land above and surrounding the underground Westbrook station into a community hub. City administration is currently soliciting feedback on how residents want to see the land used.
Ward 8 Coun. Nathaniel Schmidt said after so long, anything is an opportunity for the land.
“It’s one of those rare issues that I’ve learned in politics where everybody’s saying ‘just do something, please,’” Schmidt said on CBC Radio’s Calgary Eyeopener on Wednesday.
“You don’t get that consensus very often.”
LISTEN | City pushing plans forward to develop long-empty Westbrook station land:
Calgary Eyeopener8:08Westbrook station development
The land around the Westbrook LRT Station has been empty for more than a decade, now the city wants to change that.
The 4.2-hectare land parcel, which sits at 17th Avenue and 33rd Street S.W., has been unused since Ernest Manning High School was demolished in 2011 in anticipation of the CTrain.
The city created an initial concept plan for the area in 2014, then Matco Development purchased the land two years later. But after a contractual building commitment wasn’t met in time, the city bought the land back in 2024.
“Sometimes you have all the policies and all the rules in the world, and when it’s privately held at that point, you can’t really say ‘please do something’ or ‘we’re going to force you to do something,’” said Schmidt.
Any development around Westbrook station would be an opportunity for the area after sitting empty for so long, said Ward 8 Coun. Nathaniel Schmidt. (Brendan Coulter/CBC)
The recent push to develop the land came after Schmidt asked about its status during other land-use discussions, the councillor said.
Schmidt said the CTrain stop, the station’s library, Westbrook Mall, nearby grocery stores and daycares would all help the area be an affordable place to live. He added he would like to see similar development explored around all of Calgary’s LRT stations and transit hubs.
“We build these big infrastructure projects, and we are doing a much better job now of actually using them as public spaces,” said Schmidt.
An open house about the land’s future is scheduled at the Glendale/Glendale Meadows Community Association building on Wednesday. The city is also running a website taking suggestions.
Development is long overdue
Myles Trawick, the community association’s president, said the city has presented thoughtful ideas for the area, and residents are open-minded about the land’s future, given that a development plan is long overdue.
“What’s there right now could be described as a bit of a barren wasteland, and we’ve been looking at it for 15 years or longer,” said Trawick. “So any type of development, I think, people are excited about.”
Trawick said the land is currently only used as a pathway to and from the CTrain. But what the city presented to his organization this week was talk of towers as high as 12 storeys, mixed with smaller housing, designated green space, a retail element, and roads through and around the plot to access the site.
Carving out green space is a particularly important focus, Trawick said, calling the overall area a “dead zone” for parks.
After the plan is complete, it receives council’s approval and developers apply for permits, the city is projecting construction on the site could occur by 2029.