For too long we have had a housing shortage in Kindersley.
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| Imagine! A Field of New Neighbours - July 26, 2013 |
Back in May
Council directed Administration to develop a “Request for Expressions of Interest”
(REOI) for the multi-use land development of 115.5 acres east of Caleb Village,
north of Motherwell, and south of the railway. Council knows we need housing
and had a meeting with a representative of Head Start; a provincial agency
managed by a private company to help communities like Kindersley develop
housing. Head Start also informed some developers of the market conditions in
Kindersley resulting in one company contacting the Town. I spoke with the
President as well, and based on this conversation I spoke with Council resulting
in the REOI.
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| Imagine! New Homes, New Neighbours, New Friends - July 26, 2013 |
Long story
short: by the REOI’s deadline three companies had submitted presentations for
Council’s consideration. Council reviewed the best two submissions and on
August 12th a resolution will be coming before Council to partner
with Marathon Properties.
MarathonProperties (Marathon) submitted a comprehensive and visionary concept plan to
help Kindersley meet our current needs and grow into the future. The recommendations for Marathon were very good and the communication to date has been excellent. The plan is
develop the property over 10 years including: residential of various sorts
including affordable housing, parkland, commercial space for professional offices and reserving a lot overlooking Motherwell for a restaurant.
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| Concept Plan for Marathon's "Brookhollow Estates" in Kindersley - courtesy of Marathon Properties |
The
development of the land is a P3 (Public Private Partnership). As a P3 each
partner works for both their partners benefit as well as their own. Further,
each partner carries the risk they are willing to carry: Marathon’s risk is developing the infrastructure and homes, selling
the homes and making a profit; the Town’s risk is delegating development. As
many people have said in the past: “Municipal governments, including
Kindersley, should not be in the business of land development.” Marathon’s
return on investment (ROI) is the opportunity to do what they do and make money
at a certain rate of return. Other things Marathon will be doing is ensuring that architectural controls are followed as the various types of residences are built. The Town's ROI is the development of infrastructure
including: water, sanitation, gutters, curbs, and sidewalks as well as new
homes and residents.
The project
under consideration, tentatively titled, Brookhollow Estates, plans to accommodate
more than 2,800 people. The development will be staged with the first two
stages occurring simultaneously. It is possible that within three years there
will be a thousand more people living in Kindersley; this number includes the AlSask
development.
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| The First Two Stages of Development for Marathon's "Brookhollow Estates" - courtesy of Marathon Properties |
The
resolution is the first step in the process to develop the land. There are many
more steps including:
·
Confirmation
that title of land is in the name of Marathon Properties Corp
·
Approval
of Concept Plan by the Town of Kindersley
·
Copy
of the Geo-technical Study
·
Copy
of the signed Servicing Agreement between the Town of Pilot Butte and Marathon
Properties Corp
·
Preliminary
Engineering for complete subdivision by Bullee Consulting Ltd
·
Survey
Plan of Completed Subdivision showing development phases and zoning as
supported by the Town of Kindersley Bylaws
·
There
will be public readings for rezoning the property as well.
Some of the
questions we are considering include:
·
How
much revenue will be generated from development charges for future
infrastructure projects? Is this sustainable so the town is not at risk?
·
How
will property taxes be affected for increased services such as garbage
collection and snow removal? Is this sustainable so the town is not at risk?
·
How
will this affect Phase 2 (I assume it strengthens our case)
·
What
adjustments need to be made for emergency services?
·
Will
our civic groups be able to integrate and be flexible for our new neighbours?
·
And
more…
Other considerations
we have include:
·
How
do we position the Town to ensure people and business locate here and stay
here?
·
Are
there any design considerations to consider to enhance people’s experience of
Kindersley as they shop, visit, do business, and live here?
Let me
conclude with this: the golf course has designs on growth, we working to develop
Phase 2, the Red Lions are ambitious, the patch is busy, and many groups in
Kindersley have visions of a better future, and now Phase 8, the ‘Brookhollow
Estates,’ may also become part of Kindersley’s new reality . As a result we
have much to be excited about which also requires a great deal of sober
thinking and work. After all nothing ages faster than yesterday’s dreams of tomorrow.
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| Imagine! Paved streets and roads filled with new neighbours and friends - July 26, 2013 |
If you have
any comments please email me. I am on holidays until the 11th and
will respond after I return.
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