Calgary-based investment firm Ayrshire Group is moving ahead with three purpose-built rental projects within its expanding Housing Impact Fund strategy to build affordable housing for Alberta’s booming rental market. 

The developments - The Galloway in Calgary’s Beltline, Copenhagen Block on the former Danish Canadian Club site, also in the Beltline, and Lyric near the National Music Centre in East Village - are to deliver almost 800 rental units.

The company, which evolved from the private family office of ARC Financial co-founder Phil Swift, is a socially driven real estate investor that blends traditional returns with community impact - aligning profit with purpose.

Through a partnership with Calgary’s Suniya Foundation, for example, a portion of the 323-unit Galloway project will be reserved for neurodiverse individuals, such as those with autism or Down syndrome, supported by both CMHC financing and targeted philanthropic donations to further subsidize rents.

President Graham Gooch said population growth, interprovincial migration and Alberta’s relative affordability have made Calgary one of the last feasible markets for purpose-built rentals with vertically integrated construction and philanthropic capital helping Ayrshire deliver both returns and impact.

Ayrshire's unique corporate platform

Gooch said the company’s platform is unique in Canada in that it directly owns and operates both a construction business and a steel manufacturing company. 

“We pool private capital that wants to make an impact in our communities. This impact lens and the vertical integration allows us to deliver projects with more affordable rents and yet still attractive development margins at a time when many pro formas in major markets no longer pencil,” he said.

“In all projects we are underwriting very modest rents given lower construction costs and panelized modular construction methodologies. We view it as a critical differentiator in today’s environment of rising costs and tighter capital.”

While some rental housing projects are stalling in many Canadian markets, Gooch said Alberta continues to stand out due to lower land prices and development charges, high population growth and affordable rents relative to high household incomes.

“Canada’s housing affordability challenge is deepening, and it cannot be solved by government programs alone. Without stronger support for private developers, the gap between supply and demand will only widen. Mobilizing private capital, responsibly and at scale, is essential to addressing the crisis."

Ayrshire's current developments

Gooch said the company’s most successful projects emerge through collaboration with community stakeholders, where revitalization efforts generate measurable social and environmental benefits, together with compelling, risk-adjusted returns:

• On Lyric, it is partnering with the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) to repurpose one of the last remaining Riverfront sites in East Village as a six-storey, 208-apartment rental development right on the promenade:
• On Copenhagen, it partnered with the Danish Canadian Club under an attractive VTB (vendor take-back mortgage) to redevelop a historical site at the end of its useful life, into a 10-storey boutique development with 242 apartments and four commercial units, along the walkable and hip 11th Avenue; and
• On Galloway, it is developing a “high-value project” at very attractive construction costs and sharing that benefit with future residents via higher amenities and lower rents. Galloway pays homage to Ayrshire’s Scottish roots and is located adjacent to Calgary’s new Culture and Entertainment District. A portion of the 323 units in the 10-storey building are being allocated to non-profit partners focused on delivering housing for neurodiverse individuals.

Gooch said one of Ayrshire’s key investment themes is what it calls the Housing Impact Funds.

“These are a series of closed-ended multifamily development funds designed to merge private capital into Canada’s housing and affordability crisis. We partner with local community stakeholders to build apartment developments,” he said.

The Galloway is expected to have phased occupancy in about three years.

In Edmonton, Ayrshire’s Parkside North project was a partnership with HomeEd, a municipally-owned housing provider. Ayrshire’s Housing Impact Fund partnered with HomeEd to develop Parkside with 91 townhomes.

Construction on the Copenhagen Block is expected to start in 2026. Lyric, which is named for the nearby National Music Centre, also has a construction start date of 2026. 

Focus on rental housing development

All the projects are rentals.

“The for-sale market has been basically non-existent for many years, although it is resurfacing somewhat. But the affordability crisis in Canada kind of prohibits a lot of people from buying. They can really only access rentals right now,” Gooch explained.

“That said, we do have flexibility to do for-sale housing in the future and we’d like to explore that. But right now, CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) has been a great partner for our Housing Impact Funds. CMHC enables lower-cost financing for construction. If you’re doing a condo project, you're borrowing at conventional, higher interest rates. For rental, you can borrow CMHC-insured credit.”

Population growth is a key factor. Canada has the lowest housing supply per capita in the G7, but the highest population growth.

“In 2025, the population growth has stalled but the approvals have actually increased. The temporary foreign workers and permanent resident approvals have been north of a million so far this year. And there’s lots of interprovincial migration to Alberta. We think this investment thesis is well-timed in Alberta,” he said.

“We look at population growth and affordability measures, which are basically the average rents as a percentage of incomes and Calgary, in particular, but Alberta generally, has the highest incomes in the country so the rents are quite affordable here.

“We’ve got a land basis that is roughly five times cheaper per buildable square foot than larger centres. Our land is usually priced around $20 per buildable square foot whereas in other markets in many cases it’s over $100 per buildable square foot.”

Creating positive impact, strong returns

Gooch said Ayrshire is not looking to sacrifice returns in order to create positive impact. 

“With The Galloway, for example, we’ve templated a partnership with the Suniya Foundation,” he said. “A portion of the units at The Galloway will be head-leased to a housing provider that enables affordable rents for Suniya.

"This is different from what many developers do. Typically, when they get CMHC financing, they commit to discounting 10–20 per cent of units, and those just go to whoever is first in line.

“We’re trying to make sure those units go to people who really need them. And because many of our investors are ultra-high-net-worth families and foundations, some of them also have philanthropic capital.”

Thus, Ayrshire also sources donations to the Suniya Foundation, so those rents can be discounted even further.