[Oilers99]

Those aerials aren’t really selling me. It looks like Terwillegar Towne. I don’t want to be a downer on Blatchford, but that’s a lot of single-use, relatively low-density development right from the get-go. Is someone’s quality of life here actually different enough to justify the premium? What’s the appeal?

Conversely, I think they should have started around NAIT station and gone higher density with a real mix of uses. Being right next to a campus and a shopping mall would have guaranteed a built-in population looking to live, shop, and spend time there. An already established node to piggy-back off of. The scale and mix could have been closer to something like UniverCity in Calgary.

The single-use row housing we’re seeing now feels like something that should have come later, after a “lifestyle” was already established in Blatchford. Right now, anyone moving in still needs a car. Transit isn’t properly established, LRT is through fields of nothingness, and you have to drive to get basics. Are residents really expected to wait decades before they can live the lifestyle Blatchford is selling?

If it was higher density it would develop an even slower pace...

 

[CplKlinger]

I forgot to say this earlier, but last week there were some workers near the first phase of Blatchford Market (the mixed-use area by NAIT Station). One of their pickups belonged to M.A.P., so hopefully it's a sign that they'll start the utility/servicing work this year.

 

[fjordgard]

I feel like some of the comments over the last couple days are missing that there are more townhomes being built each year, there is one 5-6 storey under construction with 2 more appearing to be ramping up for imminent work and 3 more in the pipeline… There are hundreds of units and some true mixed use buildings coming very soon.

 

[thommyjo]

I feel like some of the comments over the last couple days are missing that there are more townhomes being built each year, there is one 5-6 storey under construction with 2 more appearing to be ramping up for imminent work and 3 more in the pipeline… There are hundreds of units and some true mixed use buildings coming very soon.

I’m not sure what you think my comments is “missing”.

Has there been more than 75 townhomes completed in a single year?

Those mortises will take ~2 years each to complete, so that’s at best 150-200 units a year if those all get going soon here.

Still very, very far off from any projections.

Michener park in 2 years of construction will have built more than blatchford has in the last 5.

 

[Gronk!]

I feel like some of the comments over the last couple days are missing that there are more townhomes being built each year, there is one 5-6 storey under construction with 2 more appearing to be ramping up for imminent work and 3 more in the pipeline… There are hundreds of units and some true mixed use buildings coming very soon.

I feel like some of the comments over the last couple of days are from negative nellies who don't actually live in Blatchford.

 

[CplKlinger]

Has there been more than 75 townhomes completed in a single year?

Yes. Going through the permits and counting main units separately from basement suites (I didn't count garage suites), here's what has been completed in the last year.

 

[thommyjo]

Yes. Going through the permits and counting main units separately from basement suites (I didn't count garage suites), here's what has been completed in the last year.
View attachment 726448

Most of these were multi year builds and many of these you’re counting aren’t finished or occupied yet.

Some of these were 2025 completions, some will be 2026.

Is there a way to see a year by year development permit count?

 

[CplKlinger]

Most of these were multi year builds and many of these you’re counting aren’t finished or occupied yet.

Some of these were 2025 completions, some will be 2026.

Is there a way to see a year by year development permit count?

Expecting a build to go from start to finish in a single year is a bit unreasonable given that the more stringent requirements mean that they take longer to build. If we see solid numbers every year, and they continue to increase, I personally don't think it matters if they take 1, 1.5, or 2 years to build. So long as they do indeed get built, and even more follow in the pipeline.

As for their completion status, every single one I listed are actually either listed as immediate possession, or already have people living in them (as in, I've personally seen people moving in or already occupying units). The only exception is the Crimson Cove build in the top left grouping - I'm not sure if it's fully complete yet because it's tucked behind Landmark's build and I haven't been back there since it was still being framed last year. Even then though, that'd only subtract 7 units and 7 basement suites from that count. I even left Streetside's 7 newest units out of the count because they won't be move-in ready until later this spring.

Another way to look at it is that in 2024, 156 units were either built or under construction. In the last year alone, around 140 units (not including secondary suites) went online. Homes are now under construction in a phase that will accommodate approximately 190 townhomes, and there is a mixed-use multi-unit building under construction with two more staged for construction and three more with pending or approved permits.

 

[thommyjo]

Expecting a build to go from start to finish in a single year is a bit unreasonable given that the more stringent requirements mean that they take longer to build. If we see solid numbers every year, and they continue to increase, I personally don't think it matters if they take 1, 1.5, or 2 years to build. So long as they do indeed get built, and even more follow in the pipeline.

As for their completion status, every single one I listed are actually either listed as immediate possession, or already have people living in them (as in, I've personally seen people moving in or already occupying units). The only exception is the Crimson Cove build in the top left grouping - I'm not sure if it's fully complete yet because it's tucked behind Landmark's build and I haven't been back there since it was still being framed last year. Even then though, that'd only subtract 7 units and 7 basement suites from that count. I even left Streetside's 7 newest units out of the count because they won't be move-in ready until later this spring.

Another way to look at it is that in 2024, 156 units were either built or under construction. In the last year alone, around 140 units (not including secondary suites) went online. Homes are now under construction in a phase that will accommodate approximately 190 townhomes, and there is a mixed-use multi-unit building under construction with two more staged for construction and three more with pending or approved permits.

I went and found the data on the open portal and compiled. Here's the historical data:

For row houses, a lot include basement suites, which are included as units. So in 2024 and 2025 it's probably safe to say we saw ~80-100 row houses?

Say we start getting ~200 units a year for mid-rises, we'll be around 340 new units a year if we can keep up the townhome pace. And full build out is expected to be ~10,000 units? So we're in the 5% range for completed units and hopefully will start seeing 3-4% a year pace going forward? But to hit the 2042 target, we need closer to a 6% build rate per year. (or ~600 units annually)

That's my very loose napkin math. Again, I don't think Blatchford is a failure, but I'm very interested to see how they help get the pace caught up to hit targets.