Forest Heights Commercial Overview
Forest Heights is an established east Calgary community developed primarily in the 1950s through 1970s, situated between 17th Avenue SE to the south and 26th Avenue SE to the north, between Deerfoot Trail to the west and 68th Street NE to the east. The community is predominantly residential with commercial uses concentrated on its arterial perimeter, particularly along 17th Avenue SE and 36th Street NE, which form its southern and eastern edges respectively. Forest Heights is part of the broader east Calgary residential cluster that includes Forest Lawn, Penbrooke, Erin Woods, and Dover, sharing commercial infrastructure along the International Avenue/17th Avenue SE corridor.
Commercial real estate in Forest Heights consists primarily of neighbourhood-serving strip retail plazas, convenience-oriented anchor tenants, personal care services, and small professional offices. The building stock is predominantly 1960s to 1980s era single-storey commercial construction on mid-sized lots, providing functional but older commercial space that supports a value-oriented tenant mix. For investors, Forest Heights commercial assets offer above-average cap rates relative to inner-city product, with occupancy supported by the stable residential catchment of east Calgary's established communities.
Key Commercial Corridors
17th Avenue SE (International Avenue) is the dominant commercial influence for Forest Heights, forming its southern boundary and providing access to one of Calgary's largest and most diverse retail strips. The corridor's ethnic grocery stores, restaurants, specialty services, and community-oriented businesses create a high-traffic commercial environment that extends into the Forest Heights edge through pad sites and plaza frontages along the avenue. Properties at the 17th Avenue SE/36th Street NE intersection offer the strongest commercial exposure in the immediate area.
36th Street NE forms the eastern commercial edge, providing a secondary arterial with automotive services, fast food, and convenience retail oriented toward through traffic between the northeast and southeast quadrants. This corridor also provides access to East Hills — Calgary's major east-end power centre anchored by Costco, Walmart, and Home Depot — which creates significant consumer traffic in the broader area and supports demand for ancillary retail services throughout the east Calgary community cluster.
Asset Classes
Neighbourhood Strip Retail
Older single-storey plazas with convenience grocery, personal services, and F&B tenants. Net rents $15–$24/sf, cap rates 6.0–7.5%. Stable necessity-use occupancy.
Service Commercial
Auto service, repair, and convenience retail on arterial edges. Functional building stock appealing to owner-occupiers and income investors.
Small Professional Office
Medical, dental, legal, and community services. Serves the diverse east Calgary residential population. Net rents $16–$22/sf.
Value-Add Plazas
Under-managed strip retail assets with renovation and re-tenanting upside. Investor appeal for active managers seeking cap rate compression through improved operations.
Investment Drivers
Forest Heights benefits from its position within east Calgary's established residential cluster, which has maintained stable population density for decades and is home to a diverse, growing multicultural community. The proximity to the East Hills power centre at 84th Street SE has elevated east Calgary's retail profile significantly since the centre's opening, bringing higher consumer traffic volumes to the quadrant and increasing name recognition as a retail destination. This macro trend supports occupancy stability in neighbourhood commercial assets throughout the east Calgary community cluster, including Forest Heights.
Calgary's overall population growth — the city has been one of Canada's fastest-growing major cities — has maintained residential density in established east Calgary communities while also driving new residential development to the northeast that passes through and increases exposure to the existing east corridor. For investors focused on yield rather than appreciation, Forest Heights neighbourhood strip retail provides a viable entry point into the Calgary commercial market at lower absolute price points and higher cap rates than comparable inner-city or suburban growth-area product.
Development Pipeline
Forest Heights is a mature community with limited greenfield commercial development opportunity. Investment activity is focused on acquisition and repositioning of existing strip retail assets, with some owner-occupier activity from medical and professional services operators establishing community-level practices. The adjacent Forest Lawn and East Hills commercial nodes continue to evolve, with East Hills seeing additional pad site and power centre expansion that gradually increases the commercial profile of the broader east Calgary market. Investors should monitor zoning applications along 17th Avenue SE for signals of corridor intensification that could affect land values in adjacent communities.