Residents moving in to former airport site
Sam Ireland can't wait to start referring to himself as a “Blatchfordian” when his family moves into the new central neighbourhood in January.
Nestled on the site of the former City Centre Airport, the 536-acre Blatchford development is starting to take shape. The first residents have begun moving into homes on the west side of the neighbourhood, which can accommodate up to 400 townhouses. Currently, 52 lots developed by the City of Edmonton have been sold to builders and negotiations are ongoing to sell the other parcels for construction in the new year.
Ireland, his wife Kim and three young adult sons were initially supposed to move in June, but construction of their new home was delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A local real estate agent, Ireland said it has been worth the wait for all the exciting elements Blatchford will have to offer.
“Edmonton's a great big doughnut and there's a hole in the middle and we get to fill that hole,” he said. “I really like how they've developed the community and how it's so centralized around getting to know your neighbours, being involved in the community and being out and about.”
With an overall construction time frame of 20-25 years, the finished neighbourhood will be home to up to 30,000 residents. It will consist of a variety of housing options, including townhomes, condos and apartments, as well as a Blatchford Market with commercial space in the town centre.
Another draw for Ireland and his family was the focus on sustainability and renewable energy.
Blatchford is designed to be carbon neutral, rooted by a district energy sharing system using geothermal, solar and other energy sources to power the community and provide environmentally friendly heating, cooling and hot water.
“We're trying to give back to the environment as much as possible and have less and less of a footprint, so if I can live in a central location and I can put in an electric plug in my garage and have an electric car for driving around to my appointments, then all of a sudden there's that much less of an impact on our environment,” Ireland said.
Blatchford development manager Tom Lumsden said it was exciting to see the long-anticipated neighbourhood start to come together this fall. He said COVID-19 had some impact on the construction process as workers had to remain distanced, but overall the real estate market has been relatively slow as well.
“It's been huge. I often use the expression one small step for man, one huge leap for the community. The first residents are moving in, our district energy system has started being used, it's just becoming a reality,” he said.
Lumsden said the new development will pay homage to the history of the site and the former airport. The two main roads through the neighbourhood, aptly named Alpha and Bravo, will follow the alignment of the two plane runways. The air traffic control tower will remain as a flagship building.
The plan to develop Blatchford dates back to 2009 when city council voted to close the airport.
Ireland said he's eager to move in and help build Blatchford from the ground up.
“I'm looking forward to getting in there and getting to know my neighbours even better,” he said.
“We're going to be pioneer Blatchfordians.”