With the Sturgeon River and the Grey Nuns White Spruce Forest in the background, Riverside promises an abundance of natural charm. Despite snow-obstructed construction, St.
With the Sturgeon River and the Grey Nuns White Spruce Forest in the background, Riverside promises an abundance of natural charm.
Despite snow-obstructed construction, St. Albert’s newest neighbourhood has now moved into the first phase of development.
“It’s a spectacular piece of land and it will be a fantastic neighbourhood,” said Jim Pennell, senior development manager with Genstar Development.
“It has so many natural attributes that we looked at and will add so much natural value to the community.”
Riverside is the first neighbourhood the company built since the construction of North Ridge in 2000. It is located north of Riel Business Park, and connects to Ray Gibbon Drive.
Pennell said the first construction of houses is expected by mid-summer, with residents moving in by early 2014. The company is also looking to build roadways and a storm water management facility.
He added that he hopes the city will get onside with a proposal to construct a walk and pavilion along the river.
The pavilion could be a destination point where people get in contact with the water, whether through canoeing, kayaking or by “letting the day flow by.”
“It could even be an access point to skate on the river in the wintertime,” he said.
Pennell said the company was also adding a distinctive entrance feature, which has yet to be designed.
The entrance into Riverside would be a split roadway with a median and two heavily landscaped islands on the side.
“We are also going to LED lighting which buys into the environmental direction and just backing up on that the builder groups have already been approached and they are excited about applying the various LEEDs standards,” he said.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards will “ramp up the energy efficiency and help the people that live there to reduce their carbon footprint.”
Pennell said Genstar will soon invite its builder groups to discuss show home options and decide who will build the houses next year.
So far, the neighbourhood will consist of the latest architectural styles such as urban fusion and urban modern housing designs.
Pennell said potential buyers could view houses of a similar design in South Edmonton’s Windermere neighbourhood.
He added that there will also be traditional housing styles as can be found in other parts of St. Albert.
Riverside was approved for approximately 3000 units, which Pennell said will house about 8000 to 9000 people.
Based on current land-use requirements, the neighbourhood will consist of 70 per cent low-density homes, such as single-family detached homes and semi-detached houses.
The other 30 per cent will consist of everything from town homes to four-storey condominium buildings.
The first phase of construction will see 87 low-density homes build into the neighbourhood.
“We are trying to diversify the market as much as we can and we will be looking to satisfy market demands,” he said.
“Our first focus will be on young families to come into the neighbourhood.”
In the coming 25 years, the number of senior citizens in St. Albert is expected to double, with the overall population growing from 60,000 to 90,000 people, based on a scenario by the Capital Region Growth Plan.
In a previous interview with the Gazette, Mayor Nolan Crouse said the city needed to attract young families to keep a proper balance on its demographics.
“People want to live in a community that has life, that has good education system, that has recreation,” he said.
“If you have a smaller percentage of the population that is younger, you have fewer wage earners. They also have a role in supporting the population over 65.”
Riverside was originally called Timberlea and was first approved by council in 2005. The subdivision was renamed in early 2012, after the landowners asked for a change in names to shift the focus onto the Sturgeon River.
Pennell said his company acquired the land in 2008 but approval for development was delayed due to the alignment of Ray Gibbon Drive and some environmental concerns.
He added that Genstar shared the development with Edmonton-based developer Reid Worldwide.
Greg Hembroff, vice-president of planning and land development for Reid, said the two companies have a good relationship and worked together to minimize boundary issues and sharing costs.
“Where my property ends and theirs start, there are roads that cross, power lines, gas,” he said, adding the city has no mechanism in place to help developers to share and recover costs.
“We’ve done our agreements separately where we outlined who paid what, we looked at the architectural design in each area and tried to keep things consistent – the naming, the marketing.”
Reid owns about 90 acres of land in Riverside, of which 20 per cent are dedicated as an environmental reserve.
Hembroff said the storm water management facility will be naturalized and they will enhance the area along the riverbank with natural plantings. The company also plans to construct a path to lead residents to the river.
He added the underground structures were now in place and he looked at starting the construction of show homes early in the new year.
So far, bad weather conditions have halted road construction.
“If it would have been a normal year and not snowed until November and later on, we might have been able to get the roads paved and I would have been much happier,” he said.
While there is lots of green space planned, Pennell said the neighbourhood would not see any large commercial sites.
“In the overall neighbourhood, there are some mixed-use parcels which include some commercial opportunities,” he said.
“That’s located right in the middle of the neighbourhood and it will be a few years before we get there.”
He added that Ville Giroux with its nine-acre Sobeys site will take care of any bigger shopping needs and downtown St. Albert is not far from Riverside.
