Brookhollow Estates Open House/Condo

There was a good turnout yesterday for the Open House held at the new condos in Brookhollow Estates. The event was hosted by Bill Larocque and his gang at Royal LePage. Helping Bill serve burgers and drinks were the Crude Hitters roller derby team (they have a game Saturday night at the curling rink).

Open House Party in Brookhollow Estates. August 20, 2015.

View from a bedroom. August 20, 2015.

A view of Motherwell from a bedroom. August 20,2015.

Another perspective from a bedroom. August 20, 2015.

Brookhollow Estates Update

Even though construction has slowed over the Christmas holidays construction progress is being made at Brookhollow Estates. Here are some photos taken over the past weekend.

North Condos of Brookhollow Estates. December 2014.

South Condos of Brookhollow Estates. December 2014

I am not aware of how sales are going.

E&L have poured four basements and work is ongoing.

Housing Co-Ops 101: A Presentation to Council December 8, 2014

 One of the last delegations of the year was Patrick Lapointe's presentation on co-operative housing. A presentation he entitled "Housing Co-Ops 101." I will still pursue this to determine if there is enough interest in the community.

Brookhollow Estates Condo Pictures

I received an update on the progress of the condos being built for Brookhollow Estates. Here are some pictures of one of the units. All of the photos were taken by Grandeur Housing and are courtesy of Wynn Sturm.

Ensuite Bathroom

Kitchen

Main Floor

Laundry

Laundry

Housing Authority Retirements

On June 24th I attended the retirement party of two members of the Housing Authority, Dave and Wayne (not sure how to spell their last names. Both men have served on the Authority for 5 years. Thank you Dave and Wayne for your service to Kindersley!

Dave, Wayne, and Peter Walker the Chair. June 24, 2014

The Authority has two new members replacing Dave and Wayne and were not able to attend the celebration due to work.

Thank you to the Authority for their ongoing commitment to housing in Kindersley.

Members of the Housing Authority including the General Manager Mavis. June 24, 2014

Brookhollow Estates House Plans

The other day I received the floor plans for some houses to be built along Brookhollow Blvd and Cooper Way. Theses are the houses that will face both streets. I don't know how much these homes will cost.

Rental Units to Condos

During the last Council meeting Council voted to approve the conversion of some rental units to condos. Kindersley has a shortage of accommodations, both for ownership and rental. In recent years our rental inventory has decreased through condominium conversion. This reduction in rental inventory affects many companies as they work to recruit and retain employees.

Not everyone can afford a home. Not everyone has money for a downpayment. If someone graduates from school and comes to Kindersley for one of their first jobs they are not likely to have money for a downpayment. I have met families who work in retail and the service industry and it is a challenge for them to scrape the money together to buy a home; they need rental units. Immigrants mostly don't have money to purchase a house. Further renting accommodations in Kindersley is not cheap. I met one gentlemen and his wife, they are a young couple, who are paying almost $2,000 to rent a two bedroom trailer.

Currently there are a number of businesses in Kindersley that own homes for their employees to live in. In one case an employee has lived in the home for a few years and can't afford to move into a rental unit of their own nor purchase a house.

Don't get me wrong: I firmly believe that owning a home is a very good thing to do. But we have to remember that not everyone can afford it. When I graduated from university I could not afford to buy a home. If we want young people to move to Kindersley we have to give them options to live here and that includes rental units to live in until they can afford to purchase a house.

If Kindersley is not careful and does not get affordable housing for purchase and rental units at a reasonable price we risk our sustainability.

A Streetscape of 5 New Houses for BrookHollow Blvd

Recently Excelsior Builders sent me a streetscape of 5 proposed new houses on Brookhollow Blvd and Cooper Way; these are the same houses that you enter from Cooper Way but the owners will have a view of Motherwell Resevoir. As the developer says:

New Home for BrookHollow Blvd in Brookhollow Estates, entry to these home from Cooper Way.

"...the garage entrances are from Cooper Way, thereby making Brookhollow Blvd the main thoroughfare to highlight the natural walking trails and Motherwell Reservoir.   We will be submitting these drawings for Building Permits once we have calculated the final costs of construction."

Here is the view of the same houses from Cooper Way.

 Lots are for sale and you can contact the developer directly.

Brookhollow Estates Update

Brookhollow Estates is still going forward. Infrastructure work has stopped until spring. Earth work has been completed for Phase 1 including staking of lots for title purposes.

We are still working to secure funding for affordable housing.

News Release: Officials Break Ground for New Housing Development

Desperately needed new housing is on its way for Kindersley as the official ground-breaking ceremony for Brookhollow Estates was held today at 1:30 pm.

Members of the public joined officials of the Town and developer Marathon Properties on site for the start of the 115 acre project that will create much needed new housing, infrastructure, and both residential and commercial lots in Kindersley. The development will be built east of the current Rosedale subdivision, extending north of the Motherwell Reservoir.

A presentation by Marathon Properties was held for the public following the ceremony at the Kindersley Town Office.

Phase One of the development will include the following residential lots:

·         58 lots for single, detached housing

·         16 lots for townhouses

·         3 lots for multiple-unit dwellings (i.e. duplex, tri-plex)

·         3 lots for high-density residential (apartments)

·         1 lot for seniors housing

“This exciting project is an important step in addressing the significant housing shortage in Kindersley. It is key to our growth and our future. I am thrilled that Marathon Properties has recognized the opportunities that exist in Kindersley, and has chosen to invest here,” says Mayor John Enns-Wind.

“Over the course of the next ten years, with staged development, Brookhollow Estates could become the home for more than 3,500 new friends and neighbours in Kindersley.”

Phase One of the Brookhollow Estates project is anticipated to provide a two-year inventory of homes in Kindersley. The developer is responsible to provide all infrastructure and deep services, including sidewalks, streetlights, curbs and gutters, resulting in zero cost to the taxpayer.

Once developed, lots will be sold to builders and/or the customer directly.

Brookhollow Estates Sod Turning Ceremony

Friday afternoon was an historic day for Kindersley. Wynn Sturm, his daughter and heir Lana, of Marathon Equities, and the architect Wojtect, participated in a formal sod turning ceremony with us to celebrate the construction of Brookhollow Estates. There was good crowd in attendance for both the sod ceremony and the presentation in the Chambers.

Brookhollow Estates Sod Turning Site, November 29, 2013

A ceremony like this has long been needed in Kindersley. For too long housing has been a problem in Kindersley. Today marks the beginning construction for new homes of all types. In the first stage 58 lots are for sale along Cooper Way, Halpenny Road, and Brookhollow Blvd. The lots range in price from $92,900 - $119,900. Also beginning construction in the spring will be 3 condominium towers with 62 units each over 4 floors totaling 186 condo units. The initial designs look very good for the condos. The condos are expected to sell for about $280,000 - 285,000. I should mention that Marathon Equities sets and enforces architectural controls. The condo will be Senior accessible with wider doors and elevators.

Because yesterday was Black Friday in the States, and it seems to be moving to Canada, Wynn and his group are offering 5% off the sale of a lot for someone who wants to build their own home. If you are a home builder and buy 3 or more lots then you receive 10% off. Forms are available at the Town Office.

Also announced yesterday was talks between Wynn and his group and a builder who wants to build a Senior's complex. Those talks are exploratory and it remains to be seen what the result will be.

One more thing: we are still working with the province to retain the $1 million grant towards affordable housing. Affordable housing is significant need and we are working towards the provision of such housing.

The earth moving is being done by Gee Bee.

Brookhollow Estates Ground Breaking Ceremony

Friday at 1:30, at the end of West Road near the Alliance Church, is the time and place for the Official Ground Breaking Ceremony celebrating the start of construction on Brookhollow Estates. Over the course of ten years, with staged development, Brookhollow Estates could become the home for more than 3,500 new friends and neighbours in Kindersley.



The work has already started. Now, it is time to celebrate! November 2013.

Come and celebrate!

Municipal Leaders Launch New Campaign to Fix Canada's Housing Crunch

OTTAWA - The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) announced today that it is launching a campaign that calls on the federal government and all political parties to work with provincial, territorial and municipal leaders, as well as the private sector, to develop a credible long-term housing plan. This comes as new polling numbers were released that show one third of families are struggling to pay for the growing costs of housing.

"Our cities and communities need a stable and secure housing market that creates jobs, attracts new workers, meets the needs of seniors and young families, and keeps our most vulnerable citizens off the streets," said Gregor Robertson, Mayor of Vancouver and Chair of the Big City Mayors Caucus, who launched the campaign on Monday.

FCM members will be taking the campaign, entitled "Fixing Canada's Housing Crunch", to decision makers in Ottawa in the coming months in advance of the 2014 budget.  The first step in the process is that communities in every region will be passing a resolution calling for the federal government to take action. Joining Mayor Robertson at the campaign launch were Luc Montreuil, City Councillor for Gatineau, and Ana Bailão, Toronto City Councillor and Toronto's housing campaign lead. Toronto will be the first in the country to put forward the resolution.

The high cost of housing in Canada is the most urgent financial issue facing Canadians today. According to Statistics Canada and the Bank of Canada, rising housing costs have pushed Canadians' personal debts to record levels and are putting Canada's national economy at risk with Canadians carrying more than $1.1 trillion worth of mortgage debt.

A growing number of Canadians are being priced out of the housing market, putting pressure on a crowded rental market and crumbling affordable housing units, and forcing the most vulnerable citizens onto the streets.  Compounding these problems is the coming expiry of $1.7 billion annually in federal affordable housing dollars with the greatest drop in funding, $500 million a year, ending between 2014 and 2019. This will put 200,000 units at risk and could lead to a crisis unless all orders of government take action.

"We believe the government's commitment in Budget 2013 to evidence-based solutions such as the Housing First approach for homelessness is a promising start, but they need to back it up with real results and expand that action to other areas of our affordable housing problem. Canada's housing challenges are too big and too complex for any single order of government to solve on its own," added Mayor Robertson.

As part of the campaign, FCM is launching an interactive website at www.fcm.ca/housingcrunch.  The site also provides the results to the new housing survey, tools and information that illustrate why Canadians continue to struggle to pay for the costs of shelter.

Global Evening News: Housing Shortage in Kindersley

Kindersley was the lead story on Global TV News last night (Oct 24). Here is a link to the story. The story was about the housing shortage in Kindersley and it pivoted on a couple of points:

• A local business owner lost his apartment due to the fire on Main St Monday evening.
• The government's throne speech. (I have not had time to read it though I have seen some highlights. Here is the full text)

By focusing on the families situation, there were two families and a young woman in the apartment, the reporter asked questions about how we, and the province, are addressing the shortage. It seemed her story narrative was to put pressure on the province to act on housing.

Here is the rest of the story. (Can I say that?)

• The families lost everything in the fire.
• The families have been looked after by a variety of agencies including the Red Cross, West Central Crisis Centre and the Chamber of Commerce.
• They have temporary housing in a basement suite.
• They received emergency supplies from the Red Cross.

Based on the questions Wendy asked here is what I said:

• The community has been helping the families.
• Housing is a challenge in Kindersley for a variety of reasons:
• All levels of government are involved to varying degrees:
• The Federal government with building codes and mortgages,
• The Provincial government with planning regulations and some incentives to build,
• The municipality enforces provincial and federal regulations as well as its own bylaws which are guided by the provincial and federal government.
• Erecting houses requires planning:
• Safety including fire and security,
• Parking,
• Water,
• Sanitation,
• Waste,
• Quality of life opportunities,
• Roadways,
• Greenspace, and more
• The private sector has to want to build according to regulations and what the market determines.
• Can the businesses make money?
• There are some large developers in the province who buy the land and sit on it.
• Some developers are very busy and a market like Kindersley isn't big enough to attract them at this time.
• Some developers are too busy and don't have the capacity to do the work at this time.
• The question was asked about the province and what they were doing:
• The Headstart Program is a program to provide incentives to developers and potential developers to build new homes. This is a good program.
• The Province seems very strategic in its investments but I would like to encourage them to diversify their investment into some more rural areas like ours.
• Earlier this week I learned that the Kindersley Public Housing Authority has not built new housing units in Kindersley for approximately 20 years.
• What are we doing to address the shortage?
• We have a large development that is on track to turn sod the middle of November and do earth moving over the winter.
• We have another development that we are waiting for the developer to start.
• People have developed basement suites.
• Families are sharing apartments and houses.
• People are sharing houses and apartments.

I wish there was a silver bullet to use on this problem but that is not happening. A lot is happening and quickly. We, like other communities in the region are feeling it and we are doing our best to address the issues. Like you I wish we could do this faster.

West Central Saskatchewan Regional Waste Management

Kindersley, along with her neighbours in West Central Saskatchewan, have been working together to develop a regional waste management site. The reason for this initiative is that the Ministry of Environment has tightened the regulations surrounding landfills. Representatives from interested communities have been meeting for the past few months and progress has been made.

At the last meeting our representatives incorporated for the purpose of developing a regional waste management site. Councillor Curtis Sackville is one of the vice-presidents and Councillor Lorne Janzen is on the executive as a member at large. The corporation has also agreed to hire Dr. Ian Fleming of the University of Saskatchewan, no relation that we know of to the creator of James Bond, to act as a consultant. The Town has agreed to administer the project on a short term basis. Further, interested communities must contribute $1 per person to the corporation.

The next steps are still being determined but should include:

• determining the best process i.e. P3 or build and manage
• I prefer P3
• select a P3 partner based on an RFP
• lots of work to address a myriad of issues relating to P3 and the rest of our neighbours such as contributions and the like.
• the recruitment of a Project Manager to ensure the project is rolled out as planned and unintended consequences are mitigated.
• pending the process, determine location
• with a P3 process the company will determine the best location based on economics and not politics
• a completion date and my suggestion is within 18 - 24 months.

I have highlighted some of the main tasks needing to be accomplished and there will be more. If you need more specifics please contact Councillor Curtis Sackville.

Tie Codes

Recently a developer blamed the Town for something beyond our control: Tie Codes. Tie Codes are used to link property together that may be separated. Their use has changed over time and today they are most commonly used to link land that are separated by a road or access line. As an example: if you owned a quarter section of land and the province decided that they needed to run a road through the quarter then Tie Codes would be used to keep together the relevant land you would still own.

Here is how it would work:

1. the quarter would be split in three. the quarter section, the roadway, and the rest of the quarter
2. each bit would have a title
3. the two pieces of the former quarter would be kept together through the use of the Tie Codes.

The Tie Codes that the Province found and had eluded both the Town's lawyers and the developers lawyers. The Tie Codes date back to somewhere between the 1930s and 1950s connecting three disparate properties including the land where the old ball diamonds used to be off of West Road, the current land being developed east of Thompson Dr. and land just north of Motherwell Reservoir.

Partnering for Growth: Brookhollow Estates

The Town has entered into a partnership with Marathon Properties to develop 115.5 acres east of Caleb Village. It is a type of P3 development in which the town gains residents and commercial development plus infrastructure while Marathon, our partners, fulfill their mission and make a profit.

"Brookhollow Estates Concept Plan"

Here is brief overview of how this partnership is expected to work. The property is to be sold to Marathon for approximately $200,000. The next part of the deal is development fees. Development fees are used to ensure adequate infrastructure resources for future maintenance and replacement. The fees the first part are approximately $500,000.

Stages 1 & 2 of "Brookhollow Estates"

The amount the remaining stages are expected to generate are unknown at this time because plans have not yet been submitted. The monies are kept in relevant reserve funds and are not put into general revenues.

This is not where the generation of wealth stops for the Town. Marathon Properties is also developing the relevant infrastructure for the development including: water, sanitation, gutters, curbs, sidewalks, and asphalt paving. The expected value of the infrastructure development is millions of dollars.

This is, generally speaking, how the development is expected to go and how the town will grow. There are still a lot of issues to be sorted out but this is a brief overview.

The New Normal is Growth!

 For too long we have had a housing shortage in Kindersley.

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.

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 12^th 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.

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.

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.

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 11^th and will respond after I return.