
Sumus, Bankside Acquire Calgary’s Former Grace Hospital Site for $38.1M
Sumus Property Group and Bankside Properties have acquired Calgary’s former Grace Hospital site from Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT for $38.1 million in cash.
The deal’s completion clears the way for a proposed seven-building multi-family redevelopment project to advance.
Sumus is a Lethbridge, Alta.-based real estate investor. Bankside is a Calgary-based developer that will oversee the project’s construction.
The asset was placed under contract in 2024 but the buyers have not been identified until now. Harvey Russell, a broker with NAI Advent who represented Toronto-based Northwest in the transaction, told Connect CRE Canada that the deal closed Tuesday.
Mark Goodman of Vancouver-based Goodman Commercial co-ordinated the property’s marketing and sale process with Russell.
Russell anticipates that the buyers will file a development application with the City of Calgary in the first half of 2025.
The site 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.
“It’s an iconic Calgary inner city site,” said Russell. “It’s very well known to Calgarians. This is a historical hospital. It was built in 1936.”
Russell said the deal was delayed for six weeks as due diligence was being completed. But everything still came together quickly.
“I’ve been in the business for 35 years, and this is one of the smoothest, large transactions I’ve ever done,” he said.
The redevelopment project is expected to include a mix of condominium and rental units with mid-rises and towers standing up to 15 storeys, Russell told Connect previously.
Local architecture firm Gibbs Gage has produced renderings that envision a seven-building neighbourhood with those types of assets.
The former Grace 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.
The Calgary Regional Health Authority closed the Grace in 1996. Since then, the structure has served as a medical-office building.
Russell and Goodman expect the building to serve as a temporary revenue source for the buyers until it is demolished and replaced by the new community.
Rendering: Courtesy of Goodman Commercial and NAI Advent
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