Aha! Some news after quite a few weeks of silence. The city's new website has a cool new news feature (that was a lot of "news" in one sentence). They're saying that demolition of the old abandoned buildings along the river on the south side of downtown is happening... Soon. Here, I'll like the article:
http://www.reddeer.ca/whats-happenin...verlands-.html
This, along with the reconstruction of some of the main roadway that go through that area means re-development (IE construction) in no far off, maybe next year even!