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.
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2 K" |# h! P6 A/ l$ cBy 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.

% u) {  G6 _  b# q! t/ S6 [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.
(CBC)
6 F6 U% J' \5 r$ Y+ SResidents have fought the project for more than three years, complaining the development will forever change the single-family community.

"There's many reasons why we lived there for such a long time," said Allan Tchida, who has lived in Strathearn since 1980.


% U3 W3 \0 [- T% r; V# u6 t( R"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.

2 Q1 Y7 W7 x* f- r1 j  H; n: lJohn Logan, with the neighbouring Bonnie Doon Community League, was also dismayed by the city council vote.
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The developer's vision of the Strathearn project.
(Nearctic Group)
7 u* M0 `$ z5 C7 T$ w"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.

- w. U- I- T6 u' J& }# c+ Z  t; ^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.

  J: z4 |) a! k! C+ |* x& }"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.

8 B4 T  u* L  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.

"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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' r  q7 P6 ^6 T5 C" }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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This is the second major project approved for a mature neighbourhood in Edmonton as many months.
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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.
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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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http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetail ... ;PropertyID=6638783
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http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetail ... ;PropertyID=6676728

catty

用不着几年就价格下来啦。