OfficeBuildings.ca / Downtown Commercial Core · Calgary office building record

Downtown Commercial Core · Calgary office building record

W.R. Castell Central Library

Office · mid-rise office building · built 1974 · 616 Macleod Trail SE

W.R. Castell Central Library (616 Macleod Trail SE) is a 30.5 m mid-rise office building in Downtown Commercial Core, Calgary, recorded on the City assessment roll as built in 1974. Its main structure is the 152nd tallest office roof of the 775 ranked in this record, and 90th of 119 in Downtown Commercial Core. The City assesses the parcel at $17.3M on the 2026 roll, 115th of 822 sites in the record by assessed value. A Plus 15 walkway touches the parcel. The nearest CTrain platform is City Hall, 43 m away in a straight line. 1,389 scheduled transit trips call within 300 m of the parcel on a weekday. Since 2012 the City has recorded 15 building permits and 6 development permits on the parcel, the largest a $3.0M administration permit for repair, applied for in 2013. It appears on the City’s Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources as W.R. Castell Central Library.

LiDAR roof height30.5 m

Storey-equivalent (derived)8

Footprint5,141 m²

Parcel7,526 m²

Year built (roll)1974

Assessed 2026$17.3M

Structures on parcel3

Nearest CTrain43 m

Civic address: 616 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, AB
Community: Downtown Commercial Core (DNC)
City sub-property use: C101 Office · all Office sites
Land use district: CR20-C20/R20 — Commercial - Residential Core (Commercial - Core)
Height rank: #152 of 785 citywide · #90 of 111 in Downtown Commercial Core
Footprint to parcel: 68% of the parcel under LiDAR footprints
Parcel pieces: 1 titled piece · roll 201570884
Coordinates: 51.046771, -114.05712

Own or manage W.R. Castell Central Library?

Slav Loban and the Commercially × Real Broker team give Calgary commercial owners a confidential pricing opinion based on the public record shown on this page: assessment history, permits, land use and the surrounding market. It is a broker’s opinion of value, not a formal appraisal. You do not need to be ready to list to start the conversation.

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Massing and site plan

Left: isometric massing of every LiDAR structure on the parcel, at true scale, viewed from the south-west with 3.9 m storey lines. Right: plan of the parcel with surrounding footprints, Plus 15 walkways and nearby stations. Open this building in the 3D city →

30.5 m · 2,229 m² · 22.4 m · 2,724 m² · 9.5 m · 188 m²

Context within 185 m. Grey footprints darken with height; lime is the Plus 15 network.

How it compares

Roof height against the Downtown Commercial Core median and tallest, and against the city.

Access

Public-geometry tests only; confirm routes, entrances and hours with the building.

CTrain

Nearest station: City Hall, 43 m straight-line (route 201/202). Planned Green Line station Event Centre / Grand Central Station is 616 m away (Downtown Segment, per the City’s Green Line map).

Other office buildings near City Hall Station →

Plus 15

The City’s Plus 15 walkway geometry touches this parcel; the plan above shows the connected segments in lime. Confirm access points, hours and the interior route with the building.

Cycling

The best-rated cycling facility within 400 m of the parcel is a protected lane (Cycle Track), 220 m away.

Winter access

The parcel fronts a Priority 1 snow and ice clearing route, 13 m from its edge. Priority 1 routes are cleared first after a snowfall.

Accessible crossing

The nearest accessible pedestrian signal is at 7 Avenue and Macleod Trail, 80 m from the parcel.

Straight-line tests against The City of Calgary Calgary Bikeways, Snow and Ice Clearing Priority Routes and Traffic Signals, retrieved 2026-09-24. Bikeways are ranked by the City's comfort level, where 1 is a protected lane and 4 a major street. Snow priority is a clearing order, not a clearing time. An accessible pedestrian signal gives audible and tactile crossing cues; a signal recorded as unknown is not counted as having none.

Transit service

Scheduled Calgary Transit service at the door, not only the distance to a platform.

1,389 scheduled transit trips call within 300 m of this parcel on a representative weekday, 182 of them between 07:00 and 09:00, across 15 routes and 19 stops. The closest stop is WB City Hall/Bow Valley College (Free Fare Zone), 54 m away.

Service class	Trips on the service day
LRT	672
REGULAR	474
BRT	118
MAX	107
EXPRESS	18

Routes: 1 Bowness/Forest Lawn · 4 Huntington · 5 North Haven · 10 City Hall/Southcentre · 24 Ogden · 90 Bridgeland/University of Calgary · 101 Inglewood · 117 McKenzie Towne Express · 131 East Bow Express · 151 New Brighton Express · 201 Red Line - Somerset - Bridlewood/Tuscany CTrain · 202 Blue Line - Saddletowne/69 Street CTrain · 302 BRT Southeast/City Centre · 500 Airport Express · MP MAX Purple City Centre/East Hills.

Calgary Transit Scheduling Data (GTFS), service day 2026-09-28 inside the 2026-09-15 to 2026-12-20 service period. A trip is counted once however many stops it calls at inside the radius. Schedules change each service period; this is the schedule, not observed service.

Parking

What the City’s own tariff record says about kerbside parking beside this parcel.

Paid on-street parking within 200 m

90 metered stalls across 14 City parking zones touching this walking radius, at $1.00 to $3.50 per hour depending on zone and time of day. Maximum stay 15 to 180 minutes. Tariff zone 2.

Enforced 0910-1450 MON-FRI; 0910-1520 MON-FRI; 0910-1520 MON-SAT; 0910-1750 MON-SAT.

Closest zone

6 Av SE, Fr MacLeod Tr SE To 3 St SE — 4 m from the parcel, 7 parallel stalls, tariff zone 2, 120-minute maximum.

When	Rate
Mon-Fri 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM	$3.00 per Hour
Mon-Fri 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM	$3.50 per Hour
Mon-Fri 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM	$2.50 per Hour
Mon-Fri 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM	$1.50 per Hour
Saturday: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM	$1.00 per Hour
Sunday/Holidays:	Free parking
Free parking to 9 AM	See Signs /Parking Restrictions

The City of Calgary On-Street Parking Zones with Rates, retrieved 2026-09-24. Counts cover Active paid parking zones only: loading bays, taxi stands, accessible stalls and permit-only zones are excluded, and off-street parkades are not in this dataset. Tariffs and enforcement hours change; confirm on the sign.

Heritage inventory

The City of Calgary Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources records the following on this parcel.

W.R. Castell Central Library (Calgary Public Library, Main Branch)

Construction year: 1963
Architect: J.H. Jiggs Cook & Associates
Style: Modern
Typology: Library
Development era: 1957 to 1982 (Modern)
Original use: Leisure
Planning theme: Urban Development
Designation: Inventory listing only
Inventory class: CWHR · featured resource

This site is significant because¿.

For nearly a half century the WR Castell Library has been the busy hub of numerous activities in the areas of research, education, informal learning and leisure. (Activity value ¿ City-wide significance)

The W.R. Castell Central Library has high institutional value for its role as the central library for the City of Calgary since the 1960s. As one of the few public spaces in the downtown core, the WR Castell has been Calgary's largest publicly accessible non-university repository of information. (Institutional value ¿ City-wide significance)

The W.R. Castell Central Library is valued at the city-wide level as a symbol of the urban renewal initiatives of the City of Calgary in the 1960s and the resulting development of a civic and cultural precinct on the eastern boundary of the downtown core. The Central Library, the Glenbow Museum and the Calgary Boa

Character-defining elements: Key elements that define the heritage character of the W.R. Castell Central Library include its: - original placement of the structures on the site; contextual relation as part of a grouping of cultural and civic facilities in the cultural and civic precinct at the east end of downtown Calgary; - form, scale and massing of the structures as expressed by their rectangular, six-storey plan; flat roof; shallow, arched concrete arcade at street level on original 1963 building; - reinforced-concrete and steel frame construction; white marble cladding and polished green marble spandrels on 1963 buil

Source: The City of Calgary Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources, entry 650.

Assessment history

Assessed values are The City of Calgary’s taxation figures by roll year, not sale prices or rents; Alberta does not publish transaction prices.

Roll 201570884 · Office

Series not charted. The City’s published values for this roll number change by more than half or double between years, which usually signals a re-numbered, split or partially assessed account rather than a market movement. The published figures are listed below without a trend claim.

Published values by roll year

Roll year	Assessed value	Change
2011	$19.9M	—
2012	$20.4M	2.2%
2013	$47.6M	133.7%
2014	$54.7M	14.8%
2015	$54.8M	0.2%
2016	$52.4M	-4.3%
2017	$46.0M	-12.3%
2018	$30.7M	-33.3%
2019	$28.1M	-8.3%
2020	$25.7M	-8.5%
2021	$22.5M	-12.7%
2022	$23.3M	3.7%
2023	$23.3M	0.0%
2024	$23.3M	0.0%
2025	$21.8M	-6.4%
2026	$17.3M	-20.7%

Development and building permits

Applications the City has located on this parcel since 2012, from the Development Permits and Building Permits datasets.

Recent development permits 6 since 2012

Applied	Permit	Category · description	Status
2024-08-14	DP2024-05926	Signs - Discretionary Use REVISION: SIGN - CLASS E (DIGITAL MESSAGE SIGNS - 2, 2 YEARS) - CHANGE TO DP2024-02376, CORRECT ADDRESS	Released Approval
2024-08-12	DP2024-05885	Change of Use - With Change to Site Plan CHANGES TO SITE PLAN: POST-SECONDARY LEARNING INSTITUTION (LANDSCAPING)	Released Approval
2024-04-08	DP2024-02376	Signs - Discretionary Use TEMPORARY USE: SIGN - CLASS E (DIGITAL MESSAGE SIGNS - 2, 2 YEARS)	Released Approval
2017-12-06	DP2017-5594	Surface Parking Lots TEMPORARY USE: PARKING LOT - GRADE	Released Approval
2015-01-19	DP2015-0195	Signs - Permitted Use NEW: SIGN - CLASS B (FASCIA SIGNS - 5)	Released Approval
2012-05-15	DP2012-1979	Surface Parking Lots TEMPORARY USE: PARKING AREA (TEMPORARY)	Expired Approval

Recent building permits 15 since 2012 · 1 in the City’s office class

Applied	Permit	Class · work	Est. cost	Status
2024-07-26	BP2024-15404	5104 - College, Other · Alteration Exterior alteration	$51,930	Completed
2023-04-13	BP2023-04867	5104 - College, Other · Alteration Exterior Alterations (Bow Valley College South Campus Smoke Seal Repair)	$523,490	Completed
2021-07-20	BP2021-12812	5115 - University Of Calgary · Alteration U of C BAS 210211 CBDL Laser Cutter - Interior Alteration	$54,000	Completed
2020-08-31	BP2020-12132	3402 - Office · Alteration Interior Alterations	$57,000	Completed
2020-08-24	BP2020-11678	6399 - Municipal/Commercial Misc. · Addition Temporary Structure - 9 Block Canopy Project	$67,500	Issued Permit
2020-03-12	BP2020-03053	2303 - Bridge (+15) · Alteration Plus 15 Walkway Restoration #1504	$995,000	Completed
2019-03-14	BP2019-02592	6307 - Police · Alteration APU Wall Build Out	$2,500	Issued Permit
2018-10-19	BP2018-14009	6399 - Municipal/Commercial Misc. · Alteration CMLC Retrofit to Existing/Old Central Library	$241,095	Completed

Declared estimated project cost across all 15 non-residential building permits on the parcel since 2012: $6.2M. Permit descriptions are the City’s records at retrieval; applicant and contractor names are not reproduced.

Inspections

What City inspectors recorded against the permits on this parcel.

68 inspection results are published against 13 of the 15 building permits on this parcel, from 2013-12-02 to 2024-11-14. The most recent occupancy inspection was accepted on 2021-03-16. 14 inspections used a life-safety checklist and 2 a barrier-free checklist.

What was inspected

Result of each visit

Outcome	Inspections
Acceptable Add Inspection	35
Acceptable with Conditions	12
Not Acceptable	11
Acceptable	10

Stage

Inspection type	Count
Progress	53
Final	9
Occupancy	6

The 14 most recent inspection results

Date	Permit	Stage	Checklist	Outcome	Inspector note
2024-11-14	BP2024-15404	Final	All Directives	Acceptable	No deficiencies noted. No further building inspections are required.
2024-10-17	BP2024-15404	Progress	NBC AE 3.4. Exits	Acceptable with Conditions	NBC AE Division B 3.4.6.1. Slip Resistance of Ramps and Stairs - Provide demarcation to bottom step due to irregular rise at sidewalk.
2024-10-17	BP2024-15404	Progress	All Documents	Acceptable with Conditions	NBC AE Division C 2.4.2. Schedules of Professional Involvement - Provide C-Schedule from architect.
2024-10-17	BP2024-15404	Progress	All Directives	Acceptable with Conditions	Correct noted deficiencies, then may continue. - Ok to proceed. Complete deficiencies call for final inspection when ready.
2024-02-27	BP2023-04867	Final	Directives	Acceptable	No Infractions Noted. No Further BLDG Inspections Required . Permit file closed.
2022-04-13	BP2021-12812	Final	—	Acceptable	work completed, all required documentation provided, reviewed and sent to File. The Permit will be closed with no further Building Inspections required.
2021-10-01	BP2021-12812	Progress	Documents Commercial	Acceptable Add Inspection	Fire Alarm Verification Required
2021-10-01	BP2021-12812	Progress	Fire Resistance & Fire Separations Part 3	Acceptable Add Inspection	The new room is have a 1 Hr rating, including walls and ceiling.
2021-10-01	BP2021-12812	Progress	Fire Stopping	Acceptable Add Inspection	Fire stopping to be an approved tested method. Listing documents to be provided for Inspections
2021-10-01	BP2021-12812	Progress	Directives	Acceptable Add Inspection	Call 311 to book an inspection When firestopping of penetrations and assemblies is completed
2021-10-01	BP2021-12812	Progress	Documents Commercial	Acceptable Add Inspection	Sprinkler Verification Required
2021-10-01	BP2021-12812	Progress	Documents Commercial	Acceptable Add Inspection	C1 and/or C2 letters required For Occupancy
2021-10-01	BP2021-12812	Progress	Documents Commercial	Acceptable Add Inspection	Contractor is to ensure that all required Trade Permits are obtained, inspected and cosed prior to calling for Occupancy
2021-03-16	BP2020-03053	Occupancy	General	Acceptable	- Building permit completed.

An inspection result is a record of one visit, not a verdict on the building. 11 of these 68 results are recorded as Not Acceptable. In the City's process a Not Acceptable result is an ordinary step: the inspector lists what must change and the work is re-inspected, which is why the most common outcome across the record is Acceptable Add Inspection. Most results relate to a single tenant improvement rather than the whole building. Inspector notes are The City of Calgary's own text at retrieval, with contact details removed; applicant and contractor names are never read.

The City of Calgary Building Inspections Results, joined to building permits by permit number, retrieved 2026-09-24.

Occupiers and licensed businesses

The public record of who operates on the parcel, labelled by source.

Businesses licensed by the City on this parcel 0 as of 2026-09-24

No City of Calgary business licence is recorded at this address or inside this parcel.

Not a tenant roster. The City licenses specific business types (retail, food service, personal services, contractors, wholesalers, schools and similar). Most office occupiers such as professional firms need no municipal licence and do not appear here. Matched by civic address and by licence location inside the parcel; home-based licences are excluded.

No individuals are named. The City issues many personal-service licences to people trading under their own name. Suite numbers are never published, and where a licence reads as an individual rather than an organisation the name is withheld and only the licence category is shown. Names of sources this site does not use are omitted.

Nearby office buildings

The six nearest office building sites in the record, by straight-line distance between parcel centroids.

Catholic School Centre300 6 Ave SE19.5 m · built 1967 · Office · Downtown Commercial Core · 108 m
615 Macleod Trail SE62.8 m · built 1972 · Office · Downtown Commercial Core · 124 m
Education Centre Building515 Macleod Trail SE25.4 m · built 1967 · Office · Downtown Commercial Core · 184 m
Historic City Hall800 Macleod Trail SE57.2 m · built 1982 · Office · Downtown Commercial Core · 188 m
Burns Building237 8 Ave SEheight n/a · built 1913 · Office · Downtown Commercial Core · 204 m
St. Louis Hotel430 8 Ave SE13 m · built 1913 · Office · Downtown East Village · 264 m

Where this building sits in the record

Every collection this building belongs to, from the same public data shown above.

Downtown Commercial Core office buildings Southeast Calgary All Office sites Built in the 1970s Land use CR20-C20/R20 Plus 15 connected buildings Heritage office buildings Named office buildings Paid street parking Office buildings near CTrain Transit service ranking Assessment cycle 2015–2026 Construction record

W.R. Castell Central Library questions

Answers drawn from the record.

How tall is W.R. Castell Central Library?

The main structure on the parcel has a LiDAR roof height of 30.5 m in The City of Calgary’s 3D building data, a storey-equivalent of about 8 at 3.9 m per storey.

When was W.R. Castell Central Library built?

The City’s assessment roll records 1974 as the year of construction. The heritage inventory records 1963.

What is the assessed value of W.R. Castell Central Library?

The City of Calgary assesses this parcel at $17.3M in total on the 2026 roll, 115th of 822 sites in this record. Assessed value is the City’s figure for property tax, not a sale price or an asking price.

What is W.R. Castell Central Library zoned?

The parcel is designated CR20-C20/R20, Commercial - Residential Core, under the City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw. Confirm the designation and any amendments with the City before relying on it.

Which CTrain station is closest to W.R. Castell Central Library?

City Hall Station, 43 m in a straight line from the parcel centroid.

Who is in W.R. Castell Central Library?

No City of Calgary business licence is recorded at this address or inside the parcel. Most office occupiers such as professional firms do not need a municipal licence, so the register is not a tenant roster.

Has W.R. Castell Central Library been inspected?

The City publishes 68 inspection results against 13 permits here, between 2013-12-02 and 2024-11-14. 14 used a life-safety checklist such as fire separations, firestopping or emergency lighting. 2 used the barrier-free checklist. The most recent occupancy inspection was accepted on 2021-03-16. Each result records one visit and most relate to a single tenant improvement, so this is not a verdict on the building.

How good is transit at W.R. Castell Central Library?

1,389 scheduled transit trips call within 300 m of the parcel on a representative weekday, 182 of them in the morning peak, across 15 routes. The closest stop is WB City Hall/Bow Valley College (Free Fare Zone), 54 m away. That is the published schedule for one service period, not observed service, and it counts each trip once however many stops it makes nearby.

Can staff cycle or get there in winter at W.R. Castell Central Library?

The best-rated cycling facility within 400 m is a protected lane, 220 m away. The parcel fronts a Priority 1 snow and ice clearing route. These are straight-line tests against City layers.

Where can visitors park at W.R. Castell Central Library?

The City of Calgary's tariff record shows 90 paid on-street stalls in 14 zones within 200 m of the parcel, at $1.00 to $3.50 per hour. The closest is 6 Av SE, Fr MacLeod Tr SE To 3 St SE, 4 m away. Loading bays, taxi stands, accessible stalls and off-street parkades are not counted, and rates change, so confirm on the sign.

Is office space available at W.R. Castell Central Library?

This profile is built from public records and does not track availability, rents or tenancy. Submit a private requirement and current options in the building or nearby will be confirmed through Commercially.

Open in 3D Downtown Commercial Core office buildings Calgary office space guide Downtown map Skyline Office lease cost guide Office tour checklist

Public record sources: Current Year Property Assessments (Parcel), Historical Property Assessments (Parcel), Assessment Subproperty Use Codes, 3D Buildings - Citywide (LiDAR roof outlines), Land Use Districts, Transit LRT Stations, Green Line Stations, Plus 15, Historic Resource (Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources), Development Permits, Building Permits, Calgary Existing Buildings - Performance Metrics (BenchmarkYYC), Calgary Business Licenses, On-Street Parking Zones with Rates, Building Inspections Results, Residential Parking Zones, Snow and Ice Clearing Priority Routes, Traffic Signals, Calgary Bikeways — The City of Calgary, retrieved 2026-09-24. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. Building names, floor counts and architects, where shown, come from Wikidata (CC0). No brokerage, listing-data or commercial research source is used.

Boundary: Assessed values are the City’s assessment-roll figures for taxation and are not sale prices, asking rents, vacancy or availability; Alberta does not publish transaction prices. LiDAR heights are roof-surface elevations above the lowest ground point at the building perimeter and can differ from architectural heights. Storey equivalents are derived at 3.9 m per storey and are not floor counts. Distances are straight-line. Permit descriptions are the City’s records at retrieval and do not establish current use, tenancy or availability. Read the methodology.

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