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.

By 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.
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+ k$ J' e* N7 i* h' Q. j9 CIt will replace a two-storey complex of low-cost apartments that have been in the south-Edmonton community for 60 years.
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1 u5 Z) i/ O# i, w' IStrathearn resident Allan Tchida has fought the high-rise project for three years.
(CBC)
6 ^) L* s. @6 _) S: ]4 UResidents have fought the project for more than three years, complaining the development will forever change the single-family community.

9 j/ {  }8 `, x7 q% m"There's many reasons why we lived there for such a long time," said Allan Tchida, who has lived in Strathearn since 1980.

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"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.
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John Logan, with the neighbouring Bonnie Doon Community League, was also dismayed by the city council vote.

The developer's vision of the Strathearn project.
3 E$ |6 H. G1 v! B$ M2 i- C& u6 {(Nearctic Group)
5 \5 C; V+ q# k! n"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
The 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.
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"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.
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- k) }9 @3 n, ]9 ^- ^# B& Z% fEdmonton 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.

"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.
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Construction is expected to start in the summer of 2009, with the full project taking about 10 years to complete, the developer said.
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' A. N, r" v& u+ l. GThis is the second major project approved for a mature neighbourhood in Edmonton as many months.

In 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.

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。
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5 a1 A9 W8 s4 m/ yhttp://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetail ... ;PropertyID=6638783
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9 L* U, o) Y6 ]! o. Lhttp://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetail ... ;PropertyID=6676728

catty

用不着几年就价格下来啦。