In 2023, Andrew Usenik led a group of University of Alberta students on a field trip through the hamlet of Ardrossan.
He showed off the 400-ish residences that have already been built in the Strathcona County hamlet and declared, “this is the biggest infill project in the Edmonton region.”
Drive east from Edmonton on Highway 16, go through Sherwood Park and then hang a right on Rge. Rd. 222, just past the giant Esso station. You will see three schools all in a row, two public, one Catholic, playgrounds, baseball diamonds and a general store. Take the next left, onto Main Street, and you’ll enter a subdivision that is home to about 1,200 residents. There are large, estate homes worth over $1 million, detached family homes and duplexes. Loop around and make a right turn at 3rd Avenue and you will find a modern recreation centre, then a new commercial centre, with some bays already open. The local pizza place opened just before Christmas.
Usenik, a Top 40 Under 40 alumnus and partner with Strata Developments says the plan is that Ardrossan will eventually be home to 10,000 people. The likes of Coventry Homes, Daytona Homes, Cantiro Homes and Launch Homes are building in the hamlet.
“It may not be the first place you think of when you are looking for where you want to live, but once you get to Ardrossan, it kind of smacks you in the face,” he says.
For anyone who’s been to Ardrossan, whether it be passing through, visiting friends or for a kid’s baseball or soccer tournament, it’s a place that’s always felt… overserved. Why would a hamlet have three schools all in a row, and playgrounds that would make any Edmonton community league envious? Soccer fields? Ball diamonds? A dog park? And why is there a major rec centre there?
Usenik says it’s all because of Strathcona County’s unique municipal structure. While we view Sherwood Park as a suburban city, it’s not — it’s a hamlet. All the residents pay their taxes to the county. But, it creates a strange split: There are about 100,000 residents in the county, but 73,000 — almost three-quarters — live in Sherwood Park. So, of course, the majority of the amenities and schools are located there.
But, to be equitable to the rest of the county, Ardrossan has become the hub for rural residents. It’s the place they go for their recreational activities and where they send their kids to school.
So, all the facilities are in place, in an area that’s under-populated. That’s where the plan to develop the land comes in.
Over a decade ago, the County OK’ed sanitation lines for Ardrossan, expecting a rise in country residential development. But what was expected were big acreage homes, like you’d see in Sturgeon County, just north of St. Albert. But, the market for these estate homes dried up.
“Young families didn’t want the oversized lots,” says Usenik. The idea of spending a weekend on top of a riding mower didn’t appeal to the emerging generation of homebuyers.
So, this made the area ripe for suburban development — or is it exurban development?
Until now, the development was done quietly. Homes were built, neighbourhoods were created, but neither Strata nor its partner builders were doing a full-court media press. That’s because the commercial phases of the development weren’t ready. But the commercial centre, built by Cantiro, is 80 per cent leased. Now that the wait for the restaurants, a gas station, drug store and other shops is almost over, Usenik feels it’s the time to really start praising the benefits of country life.
“You only have one chance to make a first impression,” he says.
And, this year, townhouses will be added to the neighbourhood, creating more choice for potential buyers.
But, even though there aren’t acreage-style lots, there aren’t zero-lot homes, either. Even the townhouses will have yards. Usenik has found that Ardrossan buyers are looking for the great in-between, the chance to live with some green space, but to feel like they’re in a dense neighbourhood, as well.
“We think of ourselves as the anti-surburban community; it’s for those who don’t want to feel so compressed.”
This article appears in the May 2024 issue of Edify
