Blatchford Development | ?m | ?s | City of Edmonton

Considering the first announcement of the plan for Blatchford was in 2016 and it is now 2021 and barely any residents have moved in. At current absorption rates this would take a 100 years to fill out. I am not criticizing the builders or pace of construction, that is separate from the pace of development undertaken by the COE as a developer. In my opinion, the City should not be in the business of developing lands.
 
Platinum107 said:
I actually thought that things are moving at a pretty decent pace in terms of construction but okay... didn't really expect it to all be built in a few short years 😅
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It is moving extremely slow, considering the plans for the area. At this rate, it will take half a century to really feel like an actual neighborhood and to have all of the amenities it is supposed to.
What I don't get is WHY the city decided it had the capacity to be a developer. They can't even do their ACTUAL duties right, let alone play developer.
 
^^That doesn't really paint an accurate picture though, it may have been announced 5 years ago, but actual construction started less than two years ago. It's pretty normal for site prep to take years, especially when you're contending with an airport, and developing sitewide infrastructure that has larger up front costs (stormwater pond ,district energy etc.).
 
IME with gov't org lead projects, the biggest challenge is nobody is able to make a decision, whether due to policy or just not wanting the blood on their hands, so project mgmt is often a slow and arduous process for even relatively small decisions, never mind big ones, as they all run up the bureaucratic approval chain.

That said, given the size and scope of Blatchford, it would be a challenging one for even experienced developers. The City didn't do themselves much of a favour by promising the world with it as well...
 
EtoV said:
^^That doesn't really paint an accurate picture though, it may have been announced 5 years ago, but actual construction started less than two years ago. It's pretty normal for site prep to take years, especially when you're contending with an airport, and developing sitewide infrastructure that has larger up front costs (stormwater pond ,district energy etc.).
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Extra big emphasis on the district energy centre. Lots of builders, industry experts, and even some councilors bet on its failure from the get-go, and there was quite a bit of hesitancy about being the first builders to make use of it.
 
There's also the reality of the product being sold being more expensive per sf than what you can get in the burbs. I think everyone expected the start of this to be slow because part of the home price is the future promised amenity that the Blatchford community can provide (parks, LRT, walkable community, commercial, green development etc.). However none of this is built yet and it will be a while before it is, so right now people are paying a premium on a future benefit and making a gamble on that. As the neighbourhood begins to develop it will be easier to sell units.

Developments in the burbs don't emphasize amenities/community nearly as much, and focus more on how much square footage and yard space you can get, so they have an easier initial buy-in because it's surroundings and services are less important to the buyer.
 
EtoV said:
There's also the reality of the product being sold being more expensive per sf than what you can get in the burbs. I think everyone expected the start of this to be slow because part of the home price is the future promised amenity that the Blatchford community can provide (parks, LRT, walkable community, commercial, green development etc.). However none of this is built yet and it will be a while before it is, so right now people are paying a premium on a future benefit and making a gamble on that. As the neighbourhood begins to develop it will be easier to sell units.

Developments in the burbs don't emphasize amenities/community nearly as much, and focus more on how much square footage and yard space you can get, so they have an easier initial buy-in because it's surroundings and services are less important to the buyer.
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Better chance to build out here than proposed developments like Bonnie Doon in some ways. I know Morguard said 30 year build out, but it is likely longer than that and they haven't broke ground on anything yet. Sure, the city might not be a great developer, but Bonnie Doon, Century Park, etc aren't shining examples of the private sector in Edmonton either. I don't think there is an excellent example of large scale infill development in Edmonton and right now, Blatchford is looking relatively decent. Time will tell whether Bonnie Doon or other areas can play catch up.
 
I think Griesbach by Canada Lands is about 15-20 years into its development now and is well built out and well done. A good chunk still to go if they are in fact planning to do the northeast quadrant.
And the LRT still to come. But overall, quite a bit of single family, duplex, townhomes and apartments (some mixed use) along with a hotel and commercial district, a great park and community gardens, a new school, lots of walking trails - although it never got its proposed grocery store. Still a reasonable amount of development with some great community features, statues, memorials etc.
 
Ice district in a decent example of private development speed. That arena and the first 2 towers went up faster than the city could build a bridge across a small river...

At the same time, phase 2 is probably 5-10 years out from taking shape with market demand. So, fast in some ways, slower in others.
 
Nothing against private developers, but they mostly do boring, cookie cutter houses in the suburbs that all look the same and are various shades of beige. If the private sector was capable of master planning an environmentally sustainable community with geothermal, integrated bike lanes and LRT, then it probably would have happened by now.

The city isn't perfect, but there is no doubt in my mind what Blatchford would have looked like if the city turned over the land over to private developers from the start. And hey, if the city truly is incompetent and unable to manage this scale of development, the private sector should have nothing to fear in the free market!
 
tkoe_ said:
Nothing against private developers, but they mostly do boring, cookie cutter houses in the suburbs that all look the same and are various shades of beige. If the private sector was capable of master planning an environmentally sustainable community with geothermal, integrated bike lanes and LRT, then it probably would have happened by now.

The city isn't perfect, but there is no doubt in my mind what Blatchford would have looked like if the city turned over the land over to private developers from the start. And hey, if the city truly is incompetent and unable to manage this scale of development, the private sector should have nothing to fear in the free market!
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I don't disagree, but I really think that the land itself should have been put in the hands of a private developer, once the things had been decided in terms of the building and usage requirements.
 
ChazYEG said:
I don't disagree, but I really think that the land itself should have been put in the hands of a private developer, once the things had been decided in terms of the building and usage requirements.
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I'm not sure I'd trust a private developer to stick with such rigorous standards, such as green building codes, environment features (like bioswales), the district energy centre (which will eventually be expanded to include sewage heat recovery), etc. Could the city actually force a developer to keep spending money on these things?
 
CplKlinger said:
I'm not sure I'd trust a private developer to stick with such rigorous standards, such as green building codes, environment features (like bioswales), the district energy centre (which will eventually be expanded to include sewage heat recovery), etc. Could the city actually force a developer to keep spending money on these things?
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Yes, the City would be able to set the terms of any sale of their land. That way it would be transparent what the expectations were before someone purchased, and they would likely factor those additional costs into the price they would be willing to pay for the land.

Furthermore, the hypothetical group they would sell to would need to come back to council to zone each individual stage of development. So, if that developer was not holding up their end of the deal with the details that you mentioned, council could withhold future zoning until those concerns are addressed. The subdivision and engineering drawing approval processes are more steps where accountability could be enforced. At the end of the day, the municipality is forever the regulating body and would hold the hammer.
 
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