If all goes according to plan, Calgary’s former Grace Hospital site will become a multi-residential community.

Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT is selling the site, which is located on the northeast corner of 14th Street N.W. and 8th Avenue N.W. in the city’s West Hillhurst area, near Riley Park.

Brokers Harvey Russell of Calgary-based NAI Advent and Mark Goodman of Vancouver-based Goodman Commercial are co-ordinating the sale process on behalf of the Toronto-based REIT.

Russell said in an interview that he expects the six-acre redevelopment site, dubbed Riley Park Village, to fetch a price of $40 million or more.

Local architecture firm Gibbs Gage has produced renderings that envision a seven-building neighbourhood with a mix of high-rise (up to 15 storeys) and mid-rise rental apartment buildings and condominiums.

Russell and Goodman have teamed up in a bid to attract bidders located in Alberta and B.C.

The veteran brokers have completed a number of sales together in Calgary over the years.

“Vancouver has always been an important market for Calgary,” said Russell, noting that several West Coast-based developers have completed projects in the Southern Alberta city.

“[The partnership with Goodman] provides more coverage. … And, we know that works in real estate.”

Russell expects the offering to receive strong demand from prospective purchasers. The property is located across the Bow River from downtown and near the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and popular Kensington area that features many restaurants, pubs and eclectic stores.

The site also lies relatively close to the University of Calgary and numerous other retail nodes.

“It is a special piece of land,:” said Russell. “There’s no other [available] land like this in the inner city. It’s all gone.”

The Calgary Regional Health Authority closed the Grace Hospital in 1996. Since then, the 1930s-era structure has served as a medical-office building.

Russell and Goodman expect the building to serve as a temporary revenue source for the buyer until it is demolished and replaced by the new community.

Rendering: Courtesy of Goodman Commercial and NAI Advent