St. Albert was the only Alberta city to grace the Western Investor’s list of top cities for real estate investment.
According to the magazine, the five best places in Western Canada for commercial property investment in 2017 are the B.C. municipalities of Kamloops, Coquitlam, Terrace and Nanaimo, and No. 3-ranked St. Albert.
Western Investor editor Frank O’Brien said it was the city’s diversified economy, progressive government and location that earned it a spot on the list.
“It’s our feeling that the price of oil is going to increase in 2017 and that St. Albert is well-positioned to take advantage of it,” said O’Brien.
The proximity to both the oilfields and oil infrastructure in Edmonton makes St. Albert a great place to invest over the next year, when oil prices are expected to recover by 20 per cent, to $61, by the end of the year.
Business in service-oriented St. Albert will pick up as projects in northern Alberta and the north of Edmonton begin to pick up again.
The Employment Lands played heavily in the rankings. Although the 600-acre non-residential development won’t be serviced for another year or two, it is viewed as an indication of St. Albert’s long-term investment potential, as well as the city’s progressive leadership, said O’Brien.
“We see the government in St. Albert as being very open and progressive to zoning and development and the incentives needed to attract both commercial and residential developers,” said O’Brien, “unlike some other areas in both B.C. and Alberta where there's a resistance from local municipalities to lay out the red carpet for the type of development that St. Albert will no doubt attract.”
Council recently approved the principles that will guide the Employment Lands Area Structure Plan and is in the process of securing funds for the sanitary sewer project needed to develop the high- to medium-density development, as well as other sites like the South Riel business park.
Once Project 9 is complete, St. Albert is also poised to grow by 15,000 residents through several western subdivisions.
Curtis Bauer, the City of St. Albert’s new business attraction manager, said it was an honour to receive independent confirmation of St. Albert’s investment potential.
“I think we have all those (criteria) – a great council and development community with long-term vision, competitively priced land for residential and industrial development, and great access to the capital region.”
What is missing however is developable land. While there are a few vacancies in Campbell Park and Erin Ridge North, “it’s getting a little tight on the commercial and industrial land side,” he said.
But that will change “soon” and with the city looking at attracting potential developers and brokers the Western Investor ranking comes as welcome news, Bauer said.
