Mandel gets A+ for developing his schoolyard idea
Building housing on surplus sites benefits boards, neighbourhoods
Scott McKeen
The Edmonton Journal
Friday, November 24, 2006
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Come on down. Come on down to Zany Steve's Mondo-Condo Warehouse.
You want a home? We're building homes. We're building homes in great locations all over the city, next to parks and playing fields.
You got a job? Then come on down. Zany Steve's will get you into a townhouse. We'll even take care of the lot. Don't pay for it this year. Don't pay next year. No payments, no interest for five years on your valuable land.
(Some conditions apply. No flipping or speculating allowed. Not available to Flames fans or Harley owners).
There you have it: Thursday's big city hall announcement, sung to the tune of a fake advertisement. That stuff about bikers and Flames? That was really fake.
What wasn't fake was the smile on Mayor Stephen Mandel's face. Forgive Mandel for feeling pumped. Both local school boards, along with Education Minister Gene Zwozdesky, heaped praise on Mandel for dreaming up the housing scheme.
Mandel again proved himself capable of thinking outside that well-worn box. This time, he even stayed attached to the leash of logic. Remember his zany plan to raise the waters of the North Saskatchewan River?
In this case, Mandel saw 20 vacant fields just sitting there growing grass. All were set aside for future school development, but remained vacant.
The sites were largely forgotten, some for as long as 30 years. So Mandel, the former land developer thought: We've got land, let's build something on it.
But first, the Alberta government had to release its interest in the school sites through an exemption to the Municipal Government Act. Then, the school boards had to be convinced. Apparently, it was a long, complex negotiation.
Money greased the wheels. Though the surplus sites were technically owned by the city, Mandel and council agreed to cut the school boards in on the development profits.
Interested developers will be restricted to building homes of a type affordable to people with family incomes in the range of $60,000 to $80,000. But the best part of this deal for first-time home buyers is the lower up-front costs.
They won't have to pay for their lot for five years. Once the five years are up, the bill arrives. And the city and school districts share in the proceeds.
How much? Assuming 25 to 50 townhouses per site, or 500 to 1,000 townhouse lots, the city and school boards will split as much as $50 million.
Someone at the press conference described it as a win-win deal. But it's much more than a win for the city and school boards.
Real estate values are rising so fast in the fever-pitch Edmonton economy that even people with decent jobs can't afford to buy. The program will allow some of them to get into the market.
And while this scheme won't help the working poor, the city vows to plow its profits into affordable or social housing. Thus, there will be even more winners down the road.
Yet there likely will be controversy, too. Neighbourhoods facing the threat of school closures will see this as adding insult to injury. Why focus on vacant school sites, when existing schools might be closed?
So I asked. And all parties -- school boards, Mandel and Zwozdesky -- all vowed to continue working on that issue. They agreed that abandoned schools will remain open as community centres, available for the day when enrolment justifies reopening classrooms.
But this first-time homebuyers scheme will also generate controversy in the communities surrounding the vacant sites. They've been enjoying the adjacent green space for years. No doubt, some will bristle at the idea of losing their unofficial parks.
Yet such opposition won't be greeted with much sympathy. Nor should it. The plan is to only construct new homes on the land originally slated for school development.
Not only will a majority of the green space remain, but some older neighbourhoods will enjoy an infusion of young families. They will join community leagues. Their kids will enrol in local schools. Ultimately, the neighbourhoods win, too.
"This is one of the most exciting announcements in a long time," said Mandel.
Agreed. But don't call city hall yet, you hopeful home buyers. Zany Steve's Mondo-Condo Warehouse won't open until some time in 2008.
You've still got time to save the down payment and pre-qualify for a mortgage. Then you can come on down.
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© The Edmonton Journal 2006
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