Regina Construction IV

[gecho111]

Yet more Costco pics. Finished up the second row, and laid out the beams for the 3rd row. Most of the remaining interior columns have been formed so those should get poured tomorrow. Still a second of the front of the building that hasn't had footings poured yet. Storm chambers mostly covered with gravel.

Just south of Westerra scraping dirt from one area and dumping it a little further west, probalby levelling out that area. A reclaimer machine was running along the new section of Horizons Way. The green area is the top soil pile from when they first started Westerra.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/reginaconstruction/





I tracked down a map with proposed future Westerra development and they have a park where the top soil pile is which lets them work around it. https://www.regina.ca/export/sites/Regin...318_PublicNotice_ProposedDevelopment.pdf As far as I know the area they are working in is still zoned Urban Holding. One thing I never noticed in the plan before is that after Courtney gets realigned they are going to leave a little cul-de-sac south of Dewdney for park access.

[gecho111]

I was going to do a timelapse of them working on the 3rd row of steel but they were doing work under the previously raised sections. So instead I recorded a timelapse of them working on the storm chamber pit. I'd seen the wheel loaders with cylindrical attachments before but never saw how they were used.

Sped up 10x reducing 35 minutes to 3.5. Used the 2x zoom so I could hover outside the worksite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2ak5A2FPCE

[gecho111]

Started the 3rd row of steel at the Costco this afternoon. Still need column bases poured for the 4th row. Stacks of metal behind the building, which might be studs to fill in the rear wall that they can do while waiting for the column bases to get done. In the southwest corner of the site they installed square storm drains, maybe weeping tile tied into them.

A bit of cleanup work out at the bypass bridge and some materials brought in, but they haven't done anything to the bridge itself since the beam was lifted last week.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/reginaconstruction/

[Stormer]

So they did replace the damaged girder on the Hwy 11/Bypass with the exact same type of precast girder. That is absolutely nuts without some further strike mitigation. This is the first overpass from Saskatoon and will get struck again. Look at the leading edge on that girder. It is so thin. It will absolutely crack and likely radiate that crack through the beam like it did last time.

[pappcam]

Originally Posted by Stormer

So they did replace the damaged girder on the Hwy 11/Bypass with the exact same type of precast girder. That is absolutely nuts without some further strike mitigation. This is the first overpass from Saskatoon and will get struck again. Look at the leading edge on that girder. It is so thin. It will absolutely crack and likely radiate that crack through the beam like it did last time.

Yep. It's idiocy.

[Stormer]

The Orange Buffalo boondoggle is coming to close. Another example of Federal grants resulting in wasteful spending by the City.

https://www.cjme.com/2026/07/22/ywca-set-to-take-over-regina-affordable-housing-project/

The project's funding breakdown includes:
$6.6 million from the federal Rapid Housing Initiative
$3 million from the City of Regina's Housing Accelerator Fund
$1 million originally from the City of Regina
$1.7 million raised by the North Central Family Centre
$810,000 from the Government of Saskatchewan.

$14.1 million could have helped hundreds of families rather than just the 30 that win the lottery.

[gecho111]

Originally Posted by Stormer

The Orange Buffalo boondoggle is coming to close. Another example of Federal grants resulting in wasteful spending by the City.

https://www.cjme.com/2026/07/22/ywca-set-to-take-over-regina-affordable-housing-project/

The project's funding breakdown includes:
$6.6 million from the federal Rapid Housing Initiative
$3 million from the City of Regina's Housing Accelerator Fund
$1 million originally from the City of Regina
$1.7 million raised by the North Central Family Centre
$810,000 from the Government of Saskatchewan.

$14.1 million could have helped hundreds of families rather than just the 30 that win the lottery.

The successor of the company that failed to finish building that one is failing to finish their current project, and the Chuka one will likely never happen as the site fencing was removed (or reposessed).

[gecho111]

Another row of steel done at the Costco. I was going to get a video of the beams going up but they were done when I got there this morning. They poured most of the remaining interior column bases, we'll see if they need a day to cure before they put up the 4th row. Adding traffic light bases at the other Dewdney entrance to Westerra so both entrances should have lights. Significant population boost to that neighbourhood will all the new multi-unit projects.

Due to a train at Elphinstone I went past the Aquatic site on the way over to Albert and they were doing some work for the first time in a month. Look to be just getting started this week scraping off top soil from what was a grassy area. Foundation wall continuing on the Douglas Park building.

Some light pole bases laying on the road on the new section of Arens (which isn't open). Also installing electrical transformers for the last part of Eastbrook. Looks like they poured the 5th floor roof today for one of the LTC wings. I believe the final floor is a smaller mechanical penthouse. Pile drilling started for the Grasslands apartment project.

Video of the Harbour Landing school facade work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AeAfMYL7ZE

https://www.flickr.com/photos/reginaconstruction/







Data Centre album: https://www.flickr.com/gp/reginaconstruction/40F77fwZYw
The site that never sleeps. The pictures turned out better than I was expecting with the haze and low sun. Another concrete slab pour for the first building. One crew prepping the foundation forms, insulation and rebar for the second building, and a second finish up the last section of the first building.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by gecho111

The successor of the company that failed to finish building that one is failing to finish their current project, and the Chuka one will likely never happen as the site fencing was removed (or reposessed).

As I have said before on this thread, multi-story concrete residential is not viable in Regina right now. The cost is astronomical.

[Stormer]

On the data centre, it is clear that the phased development is out the window and they are building all 4 buildings plus the admin building simultaneously. Also, as you can see there are pads for a 5th and 6th building, which I believe will take this over the original 300MW proposal if they proceed.

This is consistent with the build out all over N America where there is an insatiable demand for compute.

[gecho111]

Originally Posted by Stormer

As I have said before on this thread, multi-story concrete residential is not viable in Regina right now. The cost is astronomical.

As much of a fan I am of concrete, there are a lot of 5 and 6 story buildings going up entirely wood framed with strategic use of engineered laminate beams. You don't even see much block wall work.

On the subject of block, the greens fire hall is still just a steel frame, Though they are building a couple block structures inside / beside it. Maybe storage for combustibles or compressed gas cylinders.

[PrairiePrince]

Originally Posted by Stormer

As I have said before on this thread, multi-story concrete residential is not viable in Regina right now. The cost is astronomical.

Is Regina more expensive to build concrete multi story residential in than other major Canadian cities?

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by PrairiePrince

Is Regina more expensive to build concrete multi story residential in than other major Canadian cities?

I believe so. There may be less competition. Also if using pre-cast it requires expensive long-distance hauling. Also regina has lower apartment rents than many cities.

[gecho111]

No new sections raised at the Costco, but they did remove the forms from the column bases that they poured yesterday. Storm chambers fully covered and compacted.

The dirt scraping in Westerra makes sense now. They were building a storm water pond in the park area. Starting to build all the roads that had their infrastructure installed. They ran the reclaimer machine along the far south east / west road.

Doing a second pass along the last crescent road in Coopertown. They do separate trenching passes for the storm drain and septic drain pipes. Still a lot of concrete pipe left I think the last bit of work is to extend pipe south along Silverleaf Blvd to 9th Ave N. The new section of Rink is oiled and ready for pavement. One interesting thing is that the sidewalks start far west of Courtney which suggests they might twin Courtney from Rink to 9th Ave N since there is only a few hundred feet to do as it is already twinned at the 9th / Courtney intersection.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/reginaconstruction/

[The mayor]

Thank you for all the photos

[The mayor]

Originally Posted by PrairiePrince

Is Regina more expensive to build concrete multi story residential in than other major Canadian cities?

Some cities have timber high-rises some in Vancouver already
I’m not too sure how we would work out on the prairies

[The mayor]

Originally Posted by gecho111

As much of a fan I am of concrete, there are a lot of 5 and 6 story buildings going up entirely wood framed with strategic use of engineered laminate beams. You don't even see much block wall work.

On the subject of block, the greens fire hall is still just a steel frame, Though they are building a couple block structures inside / beside it. Maybe storage for combustibles or compressed gas cylinders.

Financing. Lenders want to see strong demand before funding a tall tower. In smaller markets, securing financing for a 20- or 30-storey building can be more difficult.

Cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary build many high-rises because they have:

* Much larger populations.
* Higher land values.
* Strong demand for office space and housing.
* More investors willing to finance expensive projects.

So, while concrete costs in Regina may be somewhat higher than in some regions due to logistics, the primary issue is economic demand, not the price of concrete.

[gecho111]

Part of the 4th row of steel went up today. Started adding the horizontal facade supports along the back wall (I think they are called z-girts). I think they installed weeping hose along the back edge of the site today. Already square drains back there, so they should be ready to add curbs and pave. Most of the excess dirt from the storm chamber area is gone. Maybe another 2 weeks and they'll have the roof panels on and there won't be anything to see on the overhead building shots side from roofing progress.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/reginaconstruction/