Council approves high-rise project for Strathearn

水管工

Edmonton city council gave the go ahead Thursday night to a controversial 1,750-unit housing development in the long-established community of Strathearn, overlooking the River Valley.

: g# Y# V+ L9 i8 R, oBy a vote of 12-1, councillors supported the mix of high-rises towers, ranging from 20 to 24 storeys, combined with townhouses and retail space, to be developed on a nine-hectare site.
7 Q3 j5 D- o8 t6 l* d0 s
It will replace a two-storey complex of low-cost apartments that have been in the south-Edmonton community for 60 years.

Strathearn resident Allan Tchida has fought the high-rise project for three years.
  t, s2 Y- I: r2 |8 G4 t. @(CBC)
Residents have fought the project for more than three years, complaining the development will forever change the single-family community.
: q; u$ j; @/ i; u/ B0 z
"There's many reasons why we lived there for such a long time," said Allan Tchida, who has lived in Strathearn since 1980.
# L, }: \- q- e% M1 l9 G  v# e
1 x0 q! w6 i+ B
"Those reasons are going to be gone once this project reaches its full potential. We'll have to see whether or not we're going to stay," he said.

+ L3 Z1 R4 C+ S; qJohn Logan, with the neighbouring Bonnie Doon Community League, was also dismayed by the city council vote.

The developer's vision of the Strathearn project.
(Nearctic Group)
"I am appalled. I think that from the beginning the wishes from the community and of the people most directly affected have been ignored in a way that I've never seen before in the 30 odd years that I've been involved in community affairs," Logan said.

New life to area: developer
% ?) K  L( d& G& kThe developer insists the project will breathe new life into an aging community, turning it into a modern, mixed-use neighbourhood on the edge of the city's downtown.

"We feel now we can present the city with a leading-edge design development that integrates within the community, and we can hardly wait to get started," said Guy St. Germaine with the Nearctic Group.

5 P; e3 B7 j" F! J( J$ ]: ZEdmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel was among those who voted in favour of the project. He said the developer's promise to help build 400 units of affordable housing was a major factor for him.
: b& }7 O* M, \" t
' r# ~; Q& B" T- f- a: ]"We are having a tremendous challenge in meeting the housing needs of people who are moving to this city and if we don't do something about that we will be in trouble," Mandel said.
5 F  \( d* e$ y  g/ k: ^7 P
( e$ x' c0 A3 S, \Construction is expected to start in the summer of 2009, with the full project taking about 10 years to complete, the developer said.

5 o% d# a- }6 p: A$ \) IThis is the second major project approved for a mature neighbourhood in Edmonton as many months.
) V& U+ r6 Q% s3 ~; J% i! Z0 p
! K: L% m5 B# B% a$ fIn January, council gave the go-ahead for a high-rise development in the west end community of Glenora, which will see four towers as high as 21 storeys built.
3 ?' Q5 Y5 G9 N0 S& _
It's part of a push by the city to slow urban sprawl by encouraging more development in older areas of the city.

逛逛

看看这的房子，晕。

% }! r# w* U" o2 Ghttp://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetail ... ;PropertyID=6638783
) q3 i1 P: M* S. ^4 ?' N
3 e) t  [* F' _9 hhttp://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetail ... ;PropertyID=6676728

catty

用不着几年就价格下来啦。