Some very pricey dirt in some of Calgary's upper-scale, inner-city neighbourhoods will soon be put on the market by the Alberta government. Following the devastating 2013 flood in Calgary, the government offered to buy homes along the flood plain that were damaged and declared to be beyond repair. Seventeen owners of properties in the Roxboro, Rideau Park, and Elbow Park neighbourhoods along the Elbow River took up the offer, with the province paying $51 million for them, an average of $3 million per property, in 2013 dollars. Following the sales, the homes were demolished. The lots are still vacant, but have been maintained in terms of debris cleared, lawns mowed, and sidewalks cleared of snow. In a statement, Alberta Minister of Infrastructure Martin Long said, “We are now beginning to explore the possibility of selling some or all the properties. The initial preparation work, including environmental testing, is underway to ensure the land is safe and appropriate for public use.” "Once this initial work and the necessary approvals are complete, the properties will first be offered to the City of Calgary at their appraised value. The city would need to have an approved municipal use for the properties in order to purchase them," said Long, adding in his statement the lots should be used for single-family homes. .Putting the properties up for sale coincides with the completion of the Springbank off-stream reservoir, which basically takes the properties out of the flood plain. As mentioned above, Roxboro, Rideau Park, and Elbow Park have some of the more expensive homes in Calgary. A search of current listings finds homes for sale averaging $4,000,000, compared to the average single-family home price of $780,012, city-wide, as of August 20, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board. A spokesperson at the City of Calgary said they were unable to comment on getting first right of refusal to buy the properties from the Alberta government because the properties are not yet listed, but they are looking forward to getting more information, including prices, from the province. It is unknown at this point what the exact appraised values will be of each lot, but as a rule of thumb, the cost of land is between 20% and 40% of the sale price of a home. Because of the locations, the cost of land in the three communities is closer to the top end of the scale. That would put the average value of the lots, based on the above average price, at approximately $1,600,000 each, totalling $27,200,00 for all 17 lots, about half what the Alberta government paid in 2013. But the cost could be lower, or higher..Offering the land to the City of Calgary first is a protocol and the city must say “thanks but no thanks”, regardless of the cost being $27,200,00 or higher or lower. The woke bureaucracy that runs the City of Calgary has demonstrated it has little respect for properties or owners’ property rights. Witness blanket upzoning, the redevelopment of the Viscount Bennett school site, the ongoing construction in Marda Loop and more. Calgary’s taxpayers already pay too much for the bureaucracy at city hall as it is and surely that bureaucracy would only grow larger and more cumbersome if it gets its hands on those 17 lots. The city hall woke folks will find it difficult, if not impossible, to not spread their devotion to high-density multi-family homes being built on those lots, despite Minster Long’s admonition of building single-family homes. The lots are not adjacent to each other, so something like a new park area is out of the question. The costs prohibit affordable homes. The only answer is single-family homes. The province has said if the city declines to buy the lots, it will sell them to private buyers, such as developers. .The Calgary River Communities Action Group, formed following the 2013 flood which advocates protective measures for neighbourhoods along Calgary’s rivers, supports selling the lots privately and building single-family homes. "Those 17 lots now, in our mind, should go back into private hands for people who wish to re-establish themselves in the community as it was when the floodwaters found it in June of 2013," group spokesman Tony Morris told CBC. According to the province, sales of the lots are expected to begin early next year. Before that, the city should just say “no”.
