Spanning 536 acres, the entire Blatchford community will take time to build out. Significant strides were made in 2024 towards achieving this goal and we’re pleased to share some of the highlights with you.
But first, some background:
Neighbourhoods can take more than a decade to go from initial planning to the first residents moving in – and most do not first have to convert a former active airport into a residential community. In Blatchford, residents arrived less than seven years after the final plane lifted off the runway.
Depending on long-term housing markets, Blatchford’s full development is expected to be completed in 2042, at a pace typical of other neighbourhoods in Edmonton (even though Blatchford is not a typical neighbourhood). In fact, a 2023 third-party report on land sales found Blatchford’s pace of development to be reasonable, with market acceptance improving.
The most efficient way for the City/Blatchford Office to sell the land is to have a builder group – or a set number of builders who construct the community’s homes. The majority of private land developers operate this way too.
Here’s how it works:
- A homebuilder purchases land they believe they can develop and sell/rent within a certain period of time (usually one-two years).
- Rather than constructing all the homes on that land at once, they stage construction based on their sales activities. While the Blatchford Office encourages homebuilders to construct their homes as fast as possible, selling the land is our primary role and responsibility within our control as the community’s land developer.
- Homebuilders set the price of their homes. As additional product types are constructed, a wider variety of price points emerge in the community (for example some builders now have homes listed for under $400,000).
And now, some 2024 highlights:
Land development (Responsibility: City/Blatchford Office)
Work includes: developing strategic plans and policies, rezoning and subdivision, planning and engineering design, and oversight of the construction of infrastructure like sewers, utilities, streets, bike lanes, landscaping in public areas, parks, etc.
Highlights:
- Over 40% of land on the Blatchford site is either developed, under development, or in the planning and development stage. To ensure a steady stream of development activity, the Blatchford Office has multiple stages of the development process underway at the same time across the site. One to two years of ‘behind the scenes’ work is required before land is ready to sell to builders.
- The 33 acres of land sold to NAIT have been substantially developed. On site you’ll see completed roads, sidewalks and landscaping. Note: Building construction timelines are the responsibility of NAIT.
Land sales (Responsibility: City/Blatchford Office)
Work includes: Selling land to homebuilders and managing their adherence to Blatchford-specific requirements like green building codes and architectural standards.
Highlights:
- Almost 100% of the land that’s ready for builder development in the first stages is either sold, has a sale agreement in place or has active builder interest.
- The Blatchford Office is taking holds from builders for land in the next stage of development, which includes 195 townhouse lots.
- To date, two land parcels have been set aside for Affordable Housing projects.
Home sales (Responsibility: homebuilders)
Work includes: Homebuilders are responsible for their home construction timelines, pricing, home sales and occupancy dates.
Highlights:
- Over 250 homes are either under construction or completed by homebuilders (does not include secondary or garage suites).
- Over 140 secondary or garage suites are built or planned in the current stages of development.
- Over 800 more homes planned by homebuilders on land that has been purchased, is pending sale or has active builder interest.
Finances
There is a common misperception that Blatchford is funded through taxpayers. In reality, the City generates revenue for Blatchford from selling parcels of land to homebuilders. This allows Blatchford to grow without affecting the property taxes of Edmontonians. It’s one of the reasons why the City is uniquely positioned as the community’s land developer to carry out City Council’s long-term vision.
Highlights:
Two Government of Canada grants were received in 2024:
- A $23.7 million grant through the Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program will help expand Blatchford’s District Energy Sharing System as the community grows, creating an additional 13.1 MW of heating and 12.3 MW of cooling capacity.
- Blatchford’s District Energy Sharing System is one of the City initiatives receiving support through the Government of Canada’s Housing Accelerator Fund. This initiative will provide rebates to Blatchford builders with multi-unit housing projects to help integrate the system into their buildings.
Success stories
Blatchford’s vision is to build a community that’s good for both people and the planet.
Through sustainable design and lifestyle choices, Blatchford and its residents are already having a positive impact.
- A townhome designed to Blatchford’s current green building codes is roughly equivalent to the top level (Tier 5) of energy performance in the National Building Code (Alberta Edition) that came into effect in 2024. That’s about a 70 per cent energy improvement over a building built to Tier 1 – which is the minimum required to meet the energy code and is industry standard.
- Approximately 40 percent of Edmonton’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. Blatchford homes will release fewer greenhouse gas emissions (about 75 percent less) than homes in a typical community.
- Nationally and internationally, the Blatchford team is regularly asked by municipalities, educational institutions, organizations and delegates to provide site tours and share learnings and successes as a leader in the sustainability space.
The momentum in Blatchford is anticipated to continue in 2025. We hope you share our excitement in seeing this unique, sustainable community take off.