Ogilvie Ridge - Building Housing Choices

A 0.8 ha vacant school site at 915 Ogilvie Boulevard in Ogilvie Ridge was declared surplus by local school boards in 2009 and approved for a mixed-market affordable housing development by City Council in 2015. The development will have up to 100 rental units in town homes or low-rise apartment buildings, offered at both market and below-market rates.

The remaining 3.63 ha of planned open space surrounding the housing development will be retained by the City and continue to serve sport, recreation and community uses as identified in the original Neighbourhood Structure Plan.

Project Updates

At the June 21, 2018 Community Conversation at Earl Buxton School, community members expressed a strong preference for the development to be moved to an alternate building location within the surplus school site. The feedback received was compiled into a What We Heard document.

In response, the City explored the technical and economic feasibility of moving the development from the approved north-central portion to an alternate portion on the southeast side. The feasibility study was favourable and the City is acting on the community’s request to relocate the development to the southeast corner of the site. A proposal to move the building location will go to Executive Committee for approval on November 9, 2020.

Learn More

Building Housing Choices

The City is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing through policies like Building Housing Choices, which aims to repurpose vacant surplus school sites into new mixed-market residential developments.

The development at 915 Ogilvie Boulevard will be up to 100 rental units in town homes or low-rise apartment buildings, offered at both market and below-market rates. The units will be visually indistinguishable from each other. In mixed-market developments, the market units support the more affordable below-market units, making the project financially sustainable without the need for ongoing government operating subsidies.

Affordable Housing

There is a critical shortage of housing to meet the needs of all Edmontonians. Residents of all ages, including low-wage workers, retirees, single-income families, newcomers, and people who need income support, are struggling to cover their housing costs.

Increasing the supply of affordable housing will ease this financial strain and help us build an inclusive city where everyone can enjoy the safety, stability and opportunity that housing provides.

View our FAQs about Affordable Housing.

Community Engagement

Engaging with the public is a priority for the City of Edmonton. City Council and Administration believe that active, engaged Edmontonians make for a more vibrant, positive and welcoming city, while also leading to better decisions.

Public engagement creates opportunities for people to contribute to the City's policies, programs, projects, and services, and communicates how public input is collected and used.

Meeting Highlights

June 21, 2018 — The City held its third Community Conversation, at Earl Buxton School, providing residents an opportunity to share feedback and perspectives on the building site location and hear about next steps.

June 8, 2016 — The City held its second Community Conversation, at George H. Luck School, to share feedback from the previous public meeting, share new information, receive input, and answer questions.

November 16, 2015 — The City held a Community Conversation at Whitemud Creek Community Centre, the first of a series of public meetings on this project, to share information, receive input and answer questions.

Whitemud Creek Homeowners Association

The Whitemud Creek Homeowners Association has been serving as an advisory committee to ensure community viewpoints on the project are heard.

Meeting Highlights

May 2018 — City staff met with the Whitemud Creek Homeowners Association to review and provide comments on draft materials prepared for the June 21, 2018 Community Conversation. The suggestions provided were incorporated into the final open house materials.

June 2017 — City staff met with the Whitemud Creek Homeowners Association to discuss potential impacts of their building site location preference, and the broader community’s desire for the development to be seniors’ housing. City staff agreed to review these requests and explained that any exemptions or deviations from Council policy requires Council approval.

November 2016 — The City reached out to the Whitemud Creek Homeowners Association to discuss working together to develop the criteria that will be used to solicit proposals from potential builder/operators.

May 2016 — The City met with the Whitemud Creek Homeowners Association to develop an understanding of the project and review the engagement process for the June 8, 2016 Community Conversation. Suggestions provided were incorporated into final open house materials.

Council Reports

May 23, 2017 — City Administration brought an information report to Executive Committee on the ‘ancillary use’ provision in Policy C583 (item 6.9). This provision allows housing developments on former school sites, including the site in Ogilvie Ridge, with the opportunity to include secondary uses that might complement the development and/or benefit the immediate neighbourhood, such as hair salons, coffee shops or convenience stores.

April 19, 2017 — City Administration brought an information report to Urban Planning Committee containing a status update on the Keheewin and Ogilvie Ridge surplus school site housing developments (item 6.3).

July 2015 — City Council approved Policy C583, providing development guidelines for mixed-market affordable housing on undeveloped surplus school sites.

Seniors Designation

Early community feedback indicated a desire for the site to be designated as affordable housing exclusively for seniors. At the August 21, 2018 City Council meeting, Councillor Cartmell made the following motion:

That Administration, as part of the competitive development process for the Ogilvie Ridge surplus school site, include the following conditions:

That only development proposals focused on seniors housing will be considered
That only development proposals for the alternative building location be considered
That if a sufficient number of acceptable proposals are not received within 120 days, conditions 1 and 2 will be removed and the competitive process proposal deadline will be extended

The motion did not pass and the site will not be designated as exclusively seniors housing. The City will proceed with obtaining Council approval for the alternative site and proceed with public offering.

Next Steps

Builder/Operator Selection and Public Engagement

A builder/operator will be selected through a property listing posted on the City's website and multiple listing services (MLS). The community will have an opportunity to provide feedback on a summary of criteria for the property listing before it is posted.

Having a builder/operator on board will allow the City to provide more detailed information that many residents have been seeking around building and site design, and ongoing operation and maintenance.

Design Concepts and Public Engagement

The selected builder/operator will develop and share initial design concepts with the community for input. The concepts will take into account the community's earlier feedback on development scenarios. Additional feedback received will be used to refine the final design concept.

The builder/operator will also collect input on a Good Neighbour Plan, a tool for developing and maintaining a positive relationship between an affordable housing development and the community it is joining.

Rezoning

A proposal to rezone the site based on the final design concept will go before Council for a decision. There will be opportunity for residents to share their views on the land use with Council when the proposed rezoning goes to public hearing.

For More Information

311 Contact Centre

Online	Contact 311 Online

Telephone	In Edmonton: 311 Outside Edmonton: 780-442-5311
TTY	780-944-5555

Telephone

In Edmonton: 311
Outside Edmonton: 780-442-5311

TTY

780-944-5555

Building Housing Choices