East Village continues growth in 2015, announces rental offering

Calgary Municipal Land Corp. (CMLC) president and CEO Michael Brown has proclaimed 2015 the Year of the Resident for Calgary's East Village.

Starting out as a blighted area between Inglewood and the downtown, East Village is fast becoming one of Calgary's most sought-after communities.

After being set for revitalization in 2007, the first residents will start moving in this May. Two condo towers in the community, FIRST and Fram + Slokker will open in May and August respectively, to about 800 of East Village's newest residents.

According to Statistics Canada, between 2006 and 2012, the fastest growing medium-sized community in Alberta was Chestermere. The town's population grew by a staggering 19.7 per cent to almost 12,000, up from 10,000.

By comparison, the province's overall population grew by 13.5 per cent during the same span. The other fast-growing communities also tended to be not far from Calgary, with High River (+18.5 per cent), Airdrie (+18.2 per cent) and Cochrane (+15.7 per cent) showing impressive population gains.

Calgarians can expect to see further growth to the city within the next five years according to the 2013-2017 Suburban Residential Growth report released May 14.

The five-year forecast anticipates a population increase of 118,600 residents and 50,600 additional housing units with approximately 94 per cent of the population and 77 per cent of the housing growth being captured in new suburban development.

Alberta's housing market remains one of the best in the nation, according to one of Canada's biggest financial institutions.

In a report released by TD Economics, Calgary was singled out as an "out-performer" for long-term rate of return, along with Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton and Toronto.