Developer behind $1B solar community hopes to start in three years
SASKATOON The developer behind a proposed $1-billion community powered entirely by rooftop solar panels thinks Saskatoon city hall should make the neighbourhood a priority.
Jeff Drexel, president of Vancouver-based Arbutus Properties, appeared before a city council committee on Tuesday to explain how the merits of the Solair project align with city hall priorities.
The community is being planned for privately owned farmland on the southeast edge of Saskatoon, east of the Rosewood neighbourhood, most of which is located in the RM of Corman Park.
Drexel hopes to start construction in the next three years, said the 2,200-home community represents the largest scale for a sustainable neighbourhood in Canada. “There’s nothing that’s even close,” he told the planning, development and community services committee. One of the sticking points for the proposed neighbourhood could be its location. Although the land is located inside an area slated for expansion by the city, the process of annexing land from Corman Park could be long, the committee heard.
Drexel said he has already had discussions with the RM. The committee endorsed exploring how Solair could be incorporated into existing plans to develop the area.
The $1 billion in investment is already in place, Drexel told reporters. The starting cost for a singlefamily home is $349,000, he added.
The target population for Solair is 7,000 people, who would live in homes on narrower streets with a focus on walkability. Another feature involves rain gardens, which would collect rain water and snow melt and eliminate the need to connect to the stormwater sewer system. The rooftop solar panels would produce 15 megawatts of power, which would provide electricity and heat for the homes.,