It is “bittersweet” to see residential development proceed on the former Hole’s Greenhouses site, said one of the sons of the greenhouses’ namesake.
Jim Hole told the Gazette he remembers looking out across the old farmhouse, over the Sturgeon River, and seeing the first house come up in Braeside long ago.
“I remember dad (Ted Hole) saying, ‘You know, our days are numbered here because of development,’ and he wasn’t against development at all – he thought it was a good thing – but he knew there would be pressure on the farmland,” Jim said.
He said he has not seen designs for Boudreau Communities urban village proposed for the site, which one resident called an “eye-sore” during an open house earlier this month outlining plans for the site. Those plans include 28- and 25-storey residential towers.
Some residents voiced concerns about ruined views and shadows over their homes, but one thing united many residents: traffic concerns.
Hole said he recognized his family's days were numbered farming the land when he was up in the field doing carrots and drove his tractor past a man enjoying a Sunday morning coffee and newspaper in his backyard. Dust kicked up from Jim’s tractor seemed to upset the man, which Jim said he understood.
“There is a time where you simply can’t continue (farming), because you have to appreciate the fact that St. Albert is a growing and vibrant community, and people need places to live,” Jim said.
When asked what his parents would think of residential complexes going up on their rich farmland, Jim said while he has not seen plans for the site, “for us growing up, change was constant.”
“(Lois Hole and Ted) were always tremendously proud of St. Albert, just what it was growing into. So, it’s always bittersweet,” Jim said. “You look at the fact that farmland is gone, but you also look at the great progress that St. Albert has made and the quality of people in St. Albert.”
One tower being moved in response to concerns
Boudreau Communities, which unveiled its plans Sept. 10 for a six-building urban village next to Botanica – which the company also built – plans to submit its proposal to the city by early October at the latest.
President Dave Haut said after hearing residents’ concerns and meeting with a focus group of residents, the development company is making some changes to its proposal.
That includes moving the 25-storey tower closer to the middle of the site, making the design a more “traditional step-up” approach.
Haut said Boudreau did not put the tower there in the first place because of “constructability.”
“It was nice to be able to sort of go in and build our way out of the site, and now we’re going to be building it in chunks. It’s harder, it still can be done, but we gotta listen to the community too. It seems like that would have more acceptance, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
Orion Close resident Bill Barclay, who was part of Boudreau’s resident focus group, said moving the tower would place it further from his home and benefit him, but might just move the problem elsewhere.
“The overall density really isn’t addressed, and neither the concern about tower height, of course,” he said. “That would shift the shadows somewhere else, which I don’t know what the effect of that would be but could potentially be negatively impacting other people.”
Barclay added because density was not addressed, he will be opposing the development.
Haut said the company is also changing traffic flow on-site, and Boudreau is going back to its traffic engineer to “have another look at everything.”
“(We will) look at everything from light signalization to traffic circles and when 127 Street is going to tie in, like what can we do to improve traffic in the area,” he said.
The company will also look at environmental impact, through a geotechnical study on stability of the Sturgeon riverbank and an environmental impact study.
Hole house
Bill and Val Hole continue to live in their house on the site, and Haut said Boudreau has a deal with the family they can move the house if they want.
“That was something they requested, and we’ve honoured,” he said, adding there is a lease period for the Holes to remain on the land.
Currently the property is under purchase contract, and it will be executed in a “few phases over the next few years,” Haut said.
