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Smart concept a hard sell

Imagine a green community centred around open spaces where residents can sit on their verandas and interact with the neighbours, or stroll down interlaced walking trails that connect to central meeting points, parks and stores, instead of hopping in

Imagine a green community centred around open spaces where residents can sit on their verandas and interact with the neighbours, or stroll down interlaced walking trails that connect to central meeting points, parks and stores, instead of hopping in their cars.

Welcome to Edmonton’s Terwillegar Towne — the region’s first neo-traditional community — a concept that incorporates several smart growth principles.

Developers agree it’s a great concept, and those who live in the community seem to love their walkable, eco-friendly community.

But Tom Lumsden, senior development manager for Carma Developers, said it hasn’t exactly been an easy sell and has left the company doubting whether it will ever try it again.

“It’s either a hit or miss and that’s the challenge. Not every developer in the city does it. If it was such a big seller, then more people would be doing it,” said Lumsden.

Part of the problem, he said, occurred when the city approved a major commercial development on an arterial road near Terwillegar Towne, which made it next to impossible to attract commercial businesses into the community.

“It’s financially not a big winner for developers compared to traditional development. There is a market for it, but it’s just not a given that whoever goes there is going to buy into it.”

St. Albert is currently reviewing whether or not smart growth would be a good fit for the city’s 1,337 hectares of annexed lands.

Smart growth refers to a set of design strategies meant to reduce urban sprawl, with a focus on more compact development, walkable neighbourhoods, mixed land uses and easy access to transit, shopping and businesses.

The concept has been used widely throughout the U.S., but is still relatively scarce in Canada.

A handful of prominent area developers recently approached city council, stating they like some smart growth principles, but advised there isn’t a market for such development on untouched land.

A few developers are in the midst of adopting smart growth principles to pre-existing communities in St. Albert, but on a much smaller scale.

It’s been four years since council approved the area structure plan for Genstar’s Northwest Urban Village Centre, but progress is slowly being made.

The development calls for a pedestrian-friendly mix of residential and commercial development over a 28-hectare area, with about 900 people living in low-rise apartments and semi-detached homes.

About 35 per cent of the urban village will be a commercial node, which would include retail shopping and services in a compact area that’s designed to be walkable with good transit access.

Progress on the development has been temporarily stalled due to the re-alignment of Ray Gibbon Drive, but Jim Pennell of Genstar is confident the community will be a hit.

Since there’s already a large population in the surrounding area, Pennell has already had much interest from retailers interested in commercial space.

The problem lies within attracting people to live in the high-density development, which isn’t exactly an easy feat in a city known for its large lots and sprawling homes.

“I think it’s going to take some time, but the market is there,” said Pennell, who estimates it’ll be at least a 10-year absorption. “With mixed use, we have to be very careful. It all sounds great, but the reality of it is much different here. People come to St. Albert for very specific reasons and that’s a lifestyle with single-family homes and lower density. That’s the reputation the city has and we can’t lose site of that.”

Vancouver-based Amacon also appeared before council in 2008 with a $450-million proposal to replace Grandin mall with an urban village that includes five high-rise towers ranging in height from 15 to 19 storeys.

The development, St. Albert Village, also calls for 157,000 sq. ft of commercial space.

The city, however, received a letter from Amacon six months ago that stated the development would be delayed for some period of time due to the economic downturn. Phone calls to Amacon were not returned.

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