A growing city

St. Albert continues to grow on almost all sides. With construction booming in Jensen Lakes, Riverside and Ville Giroux, the St. Albert Gazette decided to join a bus tour and compile a list of major construction projects across the city.

Hosted by the city’s Economic and Development Department, the bus tour took place last month. Here is a round-up of the commercial and residential developments currently underway across St. Albert. 

North St. Albert

Cameron Developments Corp. is in the third and fourth phase of development. The shopping area has 500,000 square feet to its name. Most of its leasable space has been rented, but there are some tenant spaces still available ranging from 1,100 to 1,200 square feet. The area is located at the north end of St. Albert Trail, where Costco is.

2. The Urban District

Owned by Landrex, the Urban District will feature residential housing right off St. Albert Trail. Once completed, the 400,000-square-foot space will also have retail, food and beverage, medical and professional buildings. The site formerly housed the King of Kings Lutheran Church, which was relocated to Morinville earlier this year. The site has been graded and phase three of the development will begin this fall. The Urban District is located just south of Cameron Developments on St. Albert Trail.

3. Erin Ridge North Phase Two

The 55-hectare area is being developed by Landrex and will soon be home to a multi-storey U-STORE-IT Canada storage and rental facility. Once developed, the area will have both medium- to high-density housing in addition to commercial developments. The site will also have a hotel, although the name of the hotel has yet to be announced. The second phase sits at the most northern tip of St. Albert Trail's commercial corridor.

4. Erin Ridge North Phase One

Phase one of Erin Ridge North is almost complete, housing multi-family, medium-density properties. The area also has row houses and seniors housing available. The 96-hectare area is bounded by the Erin Ridge neighbourhood to the south, Neil Ross Road to the north and St. Albert Trail to the west.

5. Jensen Lakes

Jensen Lakes is owned by developer Melcor Developments Ltd. The 150-hectare area currently has 250 completed homes and another 50 homes under construction. An additional phase for multi-family townhouses is also underway. Once completed, the neighbourhood will house more than 5,000 residents in low-, medium- and high-density housing. The development will feature a large private lake at its centre. Jensen Lakes is bounded by Villeneuve Road and the Deer Ridge neighbourhood to the south, Sturgeon County boundary to the north and St. Albert Trail to the east.

6. Jensen Lakes Crossing

Jensen Lakes Crossing has 17 acres to its name with more than 100,000 square feet of leasable area. Landmark Cinemas opened in February, and The Canadian Brewhouse and Browns Socialhouse opened this fall. Jensen Lakes Crossing starts north of Best Buy on St. Albert Trail.

West St. Albert

Long-term goals for Villeneuve Road include a realignment, stopping it from intersecting with Ray Gibbon Drive. Instead, it will curve to meet a new arterial road, called Fowler Way. The new road will be used for access to the Strata Lands.

8. The Meadows

Formerly known as Elysian Fields, the 100-hectare space has an area structure plan for low-density residential, a business park, commercial and industrial services, a school and a golf academy. The land doesn’t have an owner, but once completed there will be a strong focus on sports and an active lifestyle. Within the plan, there are 52.56 acres reserved for residential land, 34.27 acres for commercial and an additional 26.14 acres for industrial development. The Meadows sits between Villeneuve Road to the north, Ray Gibbon Drive to the east and Old McKenney Avenue to the south.

9. Lakeview Business District

Formerly known as the Employment Lands, the area has 249 hectares of unserviced land. While there is no area structure plan developed for the site as of yet, once completed the space will be used primarily for non-residential properties. The land is bounded by Ray Gibbon Drive to the east, Old McKenney Avenue and a portion of CN Sangudo subdivision to the north and Meadowview Drive to the south.

10. Ville Giroux

Ville Giroux is owned by Cidex Developments. The area has 30 hectares of low-, medium- and high-density housing, in addition to commercial retail space and a public park. In 2019 construction will start on another multi-family complex. Once completed, the entire area will house 1,409 residents. Ville Giroux is bounded by the CN Sangudo subdivision to the south and Ray Gibbon Drive to the west.

11. Riverside

Around 300 residents currently live in the Genstar community. Upon finishing, the 213-hectare site will feature low- and medium-density housing. Anchoring the neighbourhood is a 9.3-acre commercial site surrounded by medium- and high-density housing currently under construction. Riverside has a network of walkways and trails, highlighting its strong emphasis on recreation. The area also has dedicated 145 acres to natural parkland. Riverside sits south and southeast from the CN Sangudo subdivision, north of Big Lake and northeast of Sturgeon River.

12. Badger Lands

The 32-hectare area, which is owned by the city, currently does not have an area structure plan. Council did decide last year, however, to designate a portion of the land to a school. The area is currently being utilized as an organics disposal area for the city. Badger Lands sits north of Villeneuve Road, next to Strata Lands.

13. Strata Lands

Owned by Strata Development Corp., the site currently does not have an area structure plan. Strata Lands in an extension of Erin Ridge and has 31 hectares of land. Surfacing the area is expected to start in 2020. The area is located south of Villeneuve Road and east of Range Road 255. It is adjacent to Jensen and bordered by the city boundary to the north.

St. Albert Trail

This year, the mall has seen two new entrances, a new bathroom and a roster of new retailers open in its expanded space. The 117,000-square-foot space was left behind when Target closed its doors in 2015. Around 20 retailers are expected to fill the void, with 15 already open. Calendar Club, Romani Leather and St. Louis Bar and Grill have yet to open. St. Albert Centre sits along St. Albert Trail.

South Riel

Project 9, a 3.2-kilometre sanitary sewer line, is currently six months behind its expected completion date. The city said it’s planning to have the project completed by May or June 2019. Once finished, the line will support development on the west side of St. Albert as well as in South Riel.

16. Averton

Once completed, the 19.93-hectare area will feature diverse housing types ranging from $300,000 to more than $600,000. The land has been stripped and is currently going through final approvals with the City of St. Albert. The first phase of construction is expected to take place in 2019, with commercial lots being shovel-ready. Additionally, some residents should be able to move into the area in 2019. The northern half of the site will feature ground-level housing, while the southern half will feature mid-rise. Averton Homes is designing the area for all ages, from millennials looking to buy their first home to seniors looking to downsize. Averton is located south from Levasseur Road, east from Riel Drive and north of LeClair Way.

17. Bellevue Village

Cape Construction is currently working on the 5.49-hectare space located north of the Enjoy Centre. The land will feature medium- to high-density residences, housing more than 600 people. Phase two of construction will take place from 2019 to 2020, with phase three kicking off in 2021. A 40,000-square-foot grocery store is also part of the master plan. Bellevue Village is located west of Riel Drive, north of LeClair Way and east of Ray Gibbon Drive.

18. Anthony Henday Business Park

Managed by QuadReal Property Group, Anthony Henday Business Park is currently in its first phase of construction. Once finished, the 52-hectare area will feature commercial development. A 100-square-foot recycling depot will be built on the site, which will be built by spring of 2019. The business park is bounded by CN Sangudo subdivsion to the east, Ray Gibbon to the west and LeClair Way to the north.

19. Twinning of Ray Gibbon Drive

Ray Gibbon Drive is a major arterial road in St. Albert, seeing an average of 20,000 vehicles every day. It’s the second busiest road in the city, behind St. Albert Trail. Eventually the road will be twinned, although funding for the project is currently on the province’s unfunded list. The city’s draft budget for next year is proposing funds towards twinning Ray Gibbon, although the budget hasn’t been approved yet.

Downtown

Amacon is currently working on a higher-density residential area with commercial and retail space. The 3.39-hectare downtown development will house between 2,800 and 3,300 people once finished. Two mixed-use retail and residential towers – one 25 storeys tall and another nine storeys – will be built at the site, which will have space for around 340 residences and 18,000 square feet of retail/commercial space. Amacon is located along Sir Winston Churchill Ave., west of Grandin Road and Grenadier Park.

North Campbell

The park – located by Campbell Road to the west, Corriveau Ave to the south, Veness Road to the east and Poundmaker Road to the North – has 55 hectares to its name. Fully-serviced lots are available for rent, with space ranging from 1.23 acres to 4.18 acres. Colliers International is currently managing the site.