Live in Belvedere
Approved in 2013, under construction since 2020, and built next to the East Hills retail centre on Calgary's far southeast edge.
Belvedere sits on land annexed by Calgary in 2007 and approved as a community by Council on April 8, 2013 — the same year the East Hills Shopping Centre opened immediately to its west. Home construction did not begin until September 2020, and it is still under way: Tristar Communities is master developer of a planned 125 acres and roughly 1,250 homes, with nine builders active across single-family, townhome and condo product. The 17 Avenue SE bus rapid transit line (Route 307, MAX Purple) runs along its southern edge. This is what living here is actually like, honestly told for a community that is not finished yet.
Approved in 2013, still being built today
Bounded west by 84 Street SE and the East Hills Shopping Centre, north by the neighbouring community of Huxley, and south by 17 Avenue SE, within the Belvedere Area Structure Plan between Stoney Trail and 116 Street SE. Ward 9.
The land under Belvedere was annexed by Calgary in 2007, and Council approved the community on April 8, 2013. The East Hills Shopping Centre opened that same year, immediately to its west — the retail arrived years before a single house did.
Home construction did not start until September 2020, seven years after approval. Tristar Communities is master developer of a plan covering 125 acres and roughly 1,250 homes — single-family detached and attached, townhomes and condominiums — with nine builders active at once. It is still under way today.
Boundaries. 84 Street SE and East Hills form the western edge, the neighbouring community of Huxley the north, and 17 Avenue SE the south, inside the Belvedere Area Structure Plan between Stoney Trail and 116 Street SE. Ward 9.
What we don't know yet. There is no confirmed federal or civic population count for Belvedere — the last civic census ran in 2020, the same month construction began, and the program was cancelled shortly after. What exists instead is resale activity: 27 single-family homes and 42 condos and townhomes sold in 2025, real numbers for a community still filling in.
- This is not a finished community — expect ongoing building, unpaved lots and construction traffic for years yet
- No school operates inside Belvedere yet; a CBE elementary site is reserved but has no confirmed opening date
- Designated schools are a genuine drive or bus ride away, in Forest Lawn and the Abbeydale area
- East Hills — Costco, Walmart, a cinema — is the one mature amenity already in place
- Route 307 (MAX Purple) BRT gives a real transit option, but it is the only one
- Downtown, the airport and the mountains are all a longer haul than from most of Calgary's southeast
How Belvedere got here
- 2007The land Belvedere sits on is annexed by the City of Calgary.
- 2013Council approves the community on April 8. The East Hills Shopping Centre opens the same year immediately to its west.
- 2018Route 307 (MAX Purple) bus rapid transit begins service along 17 Avenue SE, terminating nearby at East Hills.
- 2020Tristar Communities begins construction of Belvedere's first residential phases in September, seven years after approval.
- Early 2020sFirst homes close and residents move in; nine builders are active across single-family, townhome and condominium product.
- 2025Resale activity is real but modest for a community this size: 27 single-family homes and 42 condos and townhomes sold in the year.
- OngoingCity water infrastructure and further residential phases continue construction; a reserved CBE elementary school site has no confirmed opening date.
A wetland at the centre, and civic parks beyond it
Belvedere's own open space is modest but real: 13+ acres of parks, trails, a storm pond and one of Calgary's more significant constructed wetland complexes, built into the plan from the start. Beyond the community boundary, Elliston Park sits a few minutes across Stoney Trail, and Prairie Winds Park is a genuine drive further northwest.
The resident's angle: there is no river valley or provincial park at this edge of the city — the wetland is the community's one distinctive natural feature, and it draws real birdlife. The honest counterweight, as with the rest of Calgary's far east, is Chestermere Lake, a short run north on Stoney Trail.
19 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 19 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are estimated from the centre of the community to each destination using Calgary's road grid, and are rounded to honest ranges rather than presented as precise figures. Several of these roads and interchanges are themselves still being finished, so treat the longer drive times as more likely to improve than to worsen over the next few years.
Every gym within reach
The nearest paid gyms are the chain clubs already open at East Hills; everything larger is a real drive into the established northeast, since Belvedere has not yet built a recreation centre of its own.
- Genesis Centre is the region's larger hub: gymnasiums, fitness centre, indoor courts and programming
- East Hills fitness clubs are two to four minutes away, the closest paid option to the community
- Belvedere's own pathways and wetland trails are the free option, and cost nothing to use today
- No community recreation centre has been announced for Belvedere itself
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| East Hills fitness clubs open | Chain gyms in the East Hills retail district immediately west — the closest paid option to the community. | 2–4 min |
| Village Square Leisure Centre open | Wave pool, arena, fitness space, gymnasium and a library branch under one roof. | 15–20 min |
| Genesis Centre open | The northeast's anchor recreation facility: gymnasiums, fitness centre, indoor courts and community programming. | 17–23 min |
| Belvedere pathways & wetland trails open | Free option: the community's own trail network, storm pond and wetland complex. | 1–2 min |
| Chestermere Recreation Centre open | Arena and recreation facilities in Chestermere, north via Stoney Trail. Outside Calgary, so confirm non-resident rates. | 17–23 min |
Check Chestermere carefully. Its recreation centre is a genuine option north on Stoney Trail, but it is outside Calgary — non-resident rates and programme access differ, so confirm the terms before you plan around it.
No school inside the community — yet
Belvedere students are currently designated to Forest Lawn High School, Dr. Gladys M. Egbert School for junior high, and Abbeydale School for elementary — all outside the community. A CBE elementary school site is reserved inside Belvedere's plan, but has no confirmed construction date.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Forest Lawn High School | Calgary Board of Education | Designated regular-program senior high (grades 10–12) for Belvedere students, outside the community. |
| Dr. Gladys M. Egbert School | Calgary Board of Education | Designated regular-program junior high (grades 6–9), outside the community. |
| Abbeydale School | Calgary Board of Education | Designated regular-program elementary, in the neighbouring community of Abbeydale. |
| Future CBE elementary school | Calgary Board of Education | A school site is reserved inside Belvedere's plan. No construction date has been confirmed. |
| Calgary Catholic School District | Calgary Catholic | CCSD serves the southeast, but a confirmed Catholic attendance-area designation for Belvedere addresses was not found in public sources — check cssd.ab.ca or call the district directly before you buy. |
Alberta funds Catholic education the same way it funds public education, so there is no tuition for a resident student at either board — but a confirmed Calgary Catholic School District attendance-area designation for Belvedere addresses could not be found in public sources at the time of writing. Confirm both the current CBE and CCSD designations for a specific address directly with each board before you buy — designations for a community this new change often as enrolment fills in.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel — the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Chinooks reach this far-east edge later and weaker than the rest of the city
- Stoney Trail and 17 Avenue SE are priority snow routes, so access holds up
- Route 307 is the only transit link into downtown, and a storm adds real time to it
- Construction slows across the unbuilt phases, but does not stop
- Family Day long weekend brings crowds to the East Hills cinema
- Coldest snaps usually break with a chinook, arriving later here than most of the city
- Longer light by month's end
- Indoor recreation at Village Square and Genesis Centre at its busiest
- Melt and refreeze on the community's still-new streets
- Wetland and pond ice begins to break up
- First bare pavement on community pathways
- Spring building permits pick up across the unbuilt phases
- The wetland complex comes back to life — early migratory waterfowl arrive
- Last hard frosts before planting
- Elliston Park reopens for the season across Stoney Trail
- Construction season restarts in earnest across the unbuilt phases
- Long evenings — sunset past 9pm by month's end
- New show homes and phases open for the building season
- Hail season begins — the east side gets more than its share
- The community's pathway and wetland trail network fills in
- Peak daylight at the solstice — over 16 hours
- School year ends for the students bused to Forest Lawn and the Abbeydale-area schools
- Thunderstorm season fully under way
- East Hills patios and the retail centre at their busiest
- Calgary Stampede — ten days, about 25 minutes west
- Hottest month, with little shade on streets this new
- Evening thunderstorms roll in from the west
- Chestermere Lake a short drive north for the afternoon
- The wetland is at its most active for birdwatching
- Chestermere at its warmest
- Quietest weeks before the school bus routes restart
- Harvest traffic builds on 17 Avenue SE east of the city
- School year restarts, with buses running to Forest Lawn, Dr. Gladys M. Egbert and Abbeydale School
- First frost typically arrives late in the month
- East Hills at its busiest with back-to-school shopping
- Prairie colour turns across the still-unbuilt land east of the community
- First snow is normal, and normally melts
- Snow tires go on
- The wetland freezes over by month's end in a cold year
- Building activity winds down for the season
- Dark by 5pm
- Indoor recreation season restarts at Village Square and Genesis Centre
- East Hills holiday retail season begins
- Route 307 becomes the more sheltered commute option as roads ice up
- Holiday lights at East Hills and along the community's new streets
- Chinooks, when they come, arrive late and weak on this edge of the city
- Quiet, short days between the holidays
- The wetland and ponds freeze solid for the winter
36 photographs of the community and its surroundings
All freely licensed and served from this app — nothing loads from a third party. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 36 photographs.
Honesty note. Belvedere is too new to have its own dedicated photo library, so this page uses only the general Calgary, seasonal, Alberta-wildlife and day-trip photography from the site's shared library — nothing here is presented as a photograph of Belvedere itself, and the Fish Creek and Midnapore-specific images used on other southeast pages are deliberately excluded, because they are not this community's surroundings.