Great pics, thanks for sharing! Does anyone know if the landscaping requirements on these builds are different than what's required in suburban projects? Would be amazing to see this place get greened up quick both in the public and private land areas. Especially as we start to have more "completed" streets with 0 construction left, it'll really add to the sense of finish.
 
whattheheck said:
It's too bad the city is so ideologically driven, because single family laned homes would do well in Blatchford.

The garages could have suites above. There could be side entrances for basement suites for the homes. Think in the style of Westmount, off 124th street.

But - alas - that is forbidden from city councils narrow-minded viewpoint. It's so sad to see common sense go out the window on both sides of the political spectrum.
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I agree with you 100%. What a lot of people here seem to forget that the townhouses here are likely primarily 18'. The laned SFH you are likely proposing is also 18' and as you said could be triple suited, that is with a garage suite and basement suite. You could further density the single family street by making them zero lot line like in greenfield. It would effectively achieve nearly identical density if you did the math on the frontage, you would maybe lose one or two units for every ~20. People automatically saying that this is wrong, are envisioning a different SFH.

If you did this, these would sell quicker as Edmontonians do like to purchase single family homes, even if they are significantly narrow in width and zero lot line. Not everything done in the greenfield is something 'bad' that cannot be applied to infill scenarios like Blatchford. Blatchford is also not really infill, so many of the principles used by the sophisicated large land developers and large homebuilders in the greenfield could be adopted here to increase density and asborption.
 
CplKlinger said:
I went for a walk to Blatchford on Saturday, and it's a happening place! I saw one household moving in, and I saw workers at most of the builds that are underway.

As soon as Blatchford came into view, I was stuck by how much of a difference the builds by NX Builds, Streetside, and Stratosphere make on the neighbourhood's appearance; it's really starting to look like a proper community.
View attachment 632756

Stratosphere's Pilot townhome complex is absolutely massive up close. There was a lot of activity going on there, I'd guesstimate around a dozen workers or so.
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Someone was moving into an NX home.
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The Streetside townhomes are coming along, but they still haven't moved beyond the foundations for the fourth set of homes along Airport road itself.
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I was surprised that Streetside had already made this much progress on the framing; perhaps they're prioritizing these ahead of that fourth set of townhomes to get some variety on the market?
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Encore's new builds are also coming along nicely.
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Crimson Cove is making progress on these homes too, and they're sure selling well; maybe Crimson will start their apartment after this?
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But at the end of the day, I think Blatchford is a huge bust, and the next City Council should defund it. I mean, they're literally building stairways to nowhere!
View attachment 632763
(just a joke, to be clear)
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Despite all this progress, haters still gonna hate
 
thommyjo said:
Great pics, thanks for sharing! Does anyone know if the landscaping requirements on these builds are different than what's required in suburban projects? Would be amazing to see this place get greened up quick both in the public and private land areas. Especially as we start to have more "completed" streets with 0 construction left, it'll really add to the sense of finish.
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The introduction of residential landscape securities will likely make green space more prevalent in Blatchford, given the 30% compliance rate of landscape maintenance in existing neighbourhoods.

I can't speak to any deviation from the existing policies regarding landscaping requirements though.
 
Oilers99 said:
If you did this, these would sell quicker as Edmontonians do like to purchase single family homes....
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I reiterate that in the real world the freehold townhomes are selling as fast as they can actually be built, and the speed at which townhomes can be built is limited by land being ready for building, thus this fixes a problem that does not actually exist. :rolleyes:
 
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Coprolite said:
I reiterate that in the real world the freehold townhomes are selling as fast as they can actually be built, thus this fixes a problem that does not actually exist. :rolleyes:
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Somewhat true I suppose, in that all real estate is in high demand? But the difference by property type isn't actually very large.

Of townhomes built in Edmonton in 2024, they took an average of 58 days to sell at a avg price of $388,890.

Contrast that with apts and SF homes built in 2024:

SF: 62 days on market, $633,969
APT: 72 days on market, $247,451
 
policyenthusiast said:
Of townhomes built in Edmonton in 2024, they took an average of 58 days to sell at a avg price of $388,890.

Contrast that with apts and SF homes built in 2024:

SF: 62 days on market, $633,969
APT: 72 days on market, $247,451
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Per my previous posts, freehold townhomes here in Blatchford are frequently selling before completion, and in some cases have been selling out before even being framed.
 
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I suppose if they are selling as soon as they can be built that is not a problem for the sellers, but it may indicate a problem for people wanting to buy who can't.

Although, you can't buy a new SFH home everywhere in the city regardless. That is life in the big city and perhaps was somewhat forgotten when our real estate market was not doing as well and was more titled towards buyers for a number of years.
 
David A said:
I suppose if they are selling as soon as they can be built that is not a problem for the sellers, but it may indicate a problem for people wanting to buy who can't.

Although, you can't buy a new SFH home everywhere in the city regardless. That is life in the big city and perhaps was somewhat forgotten when our real estate market was not doing as well and was more titled towards buyers for a number of years.
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Per my other previous comments, yes, this is pretty much the only place in the city where you can actually get a townhouse with a legal secondary suite, built to these standards, with alternative energy, not in absolute ass end of the ass end, and close to transit, and isn't a condo. Other options on the market basically boiled down to either things like the crappy 1970s condo townhomes in Abbottsfield that (having lived in one) are much worse in terms of build, let alone location, or condos out in the ragged edge of the ragged edge (which seem to generally be uglier and much less of a house).

We bought in early February, while the house itself wasn't ready for move-in until the end of May. We would have had very limited options to buy if we were only going to buy a completed home.

I can't emphasize enough that SFH will NOT make anything here build or sell faster, since the actual factor limiting how fast these things can sell is how fast the land can be made ready to build them. EVERY parcel designated for freehold townhomes that is ready to build (I am defining this as the land parcel existing and a road to reach it existing) is currently slated to a builder. The ONLY parcels that are ready to build that are still pending a defined project are some of those slated for 4-6 story mixed use.

They can only at this particular point cannibalize the wildly successful freehold townhome sales that are already planned to build, or cannibalize future 4-6 story mixed use development. Land can perhaps be prepared faster, but that is going to require things like preparation of the grade and the installation of infrastructure which equates to spending MORE MONEY faster because it does not cost any less to build a street and prepare its utility connections just because the houses have a negligible gap between them now.

Apologies if I am sounding cranky at this point, but I can't emphasize enough how much the WE NEED SINGLE FAMILY DETACHED HOMES claim addresses a problem that OBJECTIVELY DOES NOT EXIST. The notion that the reason things aren't going faster is because freehold townhomes are not selling is a COMPLETELY IMAGINED situation. It is an idea with less basis in reality than Sasquatch.
 
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This, by the way is the current state of the next series of townhome lots that will become available for construction when Alpha Boulevard is extended past the old terminal/Amiskwaciy Academy. EVERYTHING before this barrier that is zoned for freehold townhomes and has not yet started construction is transferred to a builder who will start building this year. They are in the process of carving up the entirety of this next section.

IMG_1527.jpeg
 
Coprolite said:
This, by the way is the current state of the next series of townhome lots that will become available for construction when Alpha Boulevard is extended past the old terminal/Amiskwaciy Academy. EVERYTHING before this barrier that is zoned for freehold townhomes and has not yet started construction is transferred to a builder who will start building this year. They are in the process of carving up the entirety of this next section.

View attachment 633538
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Have they been working in that area over the winter, or did they pause until the spring?
 
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