The Royal Canadian Legion’s North Calgary Branch has a new building, three new revenue streams and a steady influx of new members—and it hasn’t cost a cent. This happy turn of events took root six years ago when the branch recognized that, like many urban Legions, it was cash-poor and asset-rich. Its 50-year-old building, sitting on an oversized plot of prime urban real estate, was falling apart and underutilized. The roof was leaking, the sewers were backing up and the membership rolls, which peaked at 5,000 in the 1970s, were depleted. The branch decided to make a trade: swap two-thirds of the property with a developer in exchange for a new building. But not just any new building. This has a restaurant open to the public on the first floor—the 1918 Tap and Table, its name a coincide...