With Calgary city councillors preparing amendments for next year’s budget, a cohort is criticizing the city’s downtown office-to-residential conversion incentives.

The incentives provide downtown commercial property owners up to $75 per square foot to flip vacant office towers into residences or other mixed uses, up to a $15-million maximum.

The aim of the city incentives – which aren’t doled out until a project is completed – is to replace six million square feet of vacant office space by 2031, with the goal of revitalizing the central business district.

The city has spent more than $200 million on the incentive program thus far, committing funding for 21 projects that are either in progress or completed. Last week, Mayor Jeromy Farkas announced an additional nine conversion projects

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