Page 40 - 03_April-2025

the decision to unite Toronto with its suburbs. Etobicoke,
Scarborough, North York, East York and York were all
brought together with the core in one megacity, with one
city council. The result didn’t unite the region; in fact,
it gave the suburbs an inordinate amount of political
power, and the conflict between downtown dwellers and
those who live an hour outside the core still exists.
Heron fears a time when our provincial government
could look at our region and wonder why, oh why,
Strathcona County, St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain
and/or Leduc aren’t just shoved into a bigger, meaner,
Edmonton.
“If you’re not self-sustaining, you risk losing your
status as a city,” says Heron. “That means amalgamations.
If we were always shipping every one of our residents
into Edmonton, whether it’s for dialysis or entertainment
or shopping, I think Edmonton would start to say, ‘Well,
you guys may as well be part of Edmonton.’ For me it’s
about viability. With 13 municipalities in this region, it
would be very easy to become a GTA. We don’t want that.
We want to stay independent.”
The goal is for the commercial area to host light
industrial — that means no smokestacks. St. Albert wants
to attract clean businesses, from medical research to
innovation hubs, agrifoods, advanced manufacturing
and transportation.
So, no buffer zones will be needed with nearby
residential neighbourhoods. To the north, Rohit is
planning for around 950 lots in its Cherot subdivision,
with architectural guidelines that will require the build-
ers to make homes and townhomes look as if they belong
in the French countryside. High arches, and black-
trimmed windows and doors, will be the norm. So far,
215 lots have been prepped, and half have been sold.
“There’s a range of density,” says Jim Killoh, Rohit
Communities’ senior project manager, who is overseeing
the development of Cherot. “There’s the conventional
two-storey with the attached garage, and duplexes.
We have townhomes — both the townhomes and the
rear-detached-zero-lot product — for along the laneway,
which is relatively new for St. Albert. It definitely
adds to housing diversity. We have front-drive zeroes
and duplexes.”
Rohit plans to break ground on a
six-storey residential building in Cherot
in 2026.
And in the city’s southwest, two
residential mid-rise towers have been
approved for Cidex to develop in Giroux
(near Lakeview).
“Creating this commercial manufacturing
hub can maybe create an opportunity
where people can get to work really easily
from the towers,” says Sarah Itani, the
vice-president of development for the
Cidex Group of Companies. “I think that
globally, and definitely within Canada
and Alberta, we all need to think about
sustainability, and how do we focus
on this.
“
 LAKEVIEW WILL DIVERSIFY
THE TAX BASE AND REDUCE
THE BURDEN ON THE
RESIDENTIAL PORTION,
WHICH WILL MAKE IT MORE
AFFORDABLE. EVERYTHING
WORKS WHEN YOU HAVE A
DRIVER LIKE LAKEVIEW.”
—  Sarah Itani, vice-president of development for
the Cidex Group of Companies
“Everyone is dealing with affordability
and cost of living. And so, the cost of
transportation is massive right now,
right? It’s not just that investment to
make in a vehicle or on gas, but also
the time you lose [commuting] with
anybody you’d be interacting with —
family, friends.”
Bringing in dense housing options
will help with affordability, but Heron
ST. ALBERT
BY THE
NUMBERS
Population
The city is aging with
seniors at 22.14%
72,316Lacombe Park
has 10.9% of the
surpassing the per-
city’s people.
The average
centage of young adults
Grandin and Deer
annual growth
at 14.28%
Ridge are the next
rate from 2018 to
most populous
2024 is 1.51%
neighbourhoods
42.7%
work in Edmonton,
and about 28.8%
work in St. Albert
2024 CENSUS REPORT
40 EDify. APRIL.25