Land decisions to be made this fall
By COLLIN GALLANT on June 7, 2019.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant Council will decide this fall how its land department will bring forward new residential, commercial and industrial land onto the market that’s still seeing a residential building slump, administrators told a committee on Wednesday. That arose as the 2018 annual report was submitted, showing sales of multi-family land, infill lots and commercial property buoyed the bottom line at city hall’s land development business. That offset light sales in traditional low-density subdivisions – just 42 in 2018, up from a record low of 25 in 2017 – and produced a dividend of $4.4 million that goes into a community capital reserve fund. The largest emerging issue on the residential side is further development in Ranchlands, where a 60-lot phase, known as Ranchlands 3C1, is designed and awaiting a go-ahead decision, said department manager Grant MacKay. While the inventory of house lots at the city and private developers is probably over supplied, said MacKay, the phase includes large lots and multiple unit lots, which are at a premium now. “The question is whether it’s the right time,” said MacKay. “We’ve had a good run on multi-family sites and we’re out of the upper-end lots – people can argue that we’re lost that (market to luxury county subdivisions in) Desert Blume and Dunmore.” Similarly, council will have to make a decision on moving forward with a potential industrial subdivision in the far northwest quadrant of the city. That would provide “shovel-ready” serviced land to offer out-of-town investors when they are selecting sites, but would have an up-front price tag of $14 million, requiring a council decision. Development committee vice-chair Coun. Jim Turner said it’s key that the department respond to market demand, even though that can be difficult to ascertain years ahead of time when phases are being planned. Coun. Kris Samraj asked how potentially bringing larger lots on to market meshed with council’s strategic objective of adding population density or promoting infill development. MacKay said a program to evaluate surplus holdings for potential sale as multi-family sites is leading to sales and development. A half dozen more sites could be unveiled and marketed by year end. Unexpected sales of existing multi-family sites and commercial land in 2018 pushed total sales receipts that year to $6.97 million – about $400,000 more than budgeted, and despite residential sales being only half the forecast. In terms of industrial land, last year the department studied the possibility, costs and potential timetable of servicing 80 acres of land the city annexed decades ago north of the Box Springs Business Park. Now that the concept plan is done, $14 million to advance it was included in the department’s business plan approved last fall. A final go-ahead from council is required, and that decision could be made in the fall, MacKay said. If Ranchlands phase was approved, lots could be marketed in 2020. It would be the first city-led subdivision to open since 2015. In the commercial arena, some new lots could be available soon in areas adjacent to the Medicine Hat Regional Airport, with more coming on next year. In terms of market share, the report states that of the 61 new home development permits issued in 2018, 29 were on land sold by the city. For 2017, the department produced similar net earnings and a potential dividend of $6.2 million thanks to large commercial sales, though no transfer was made as cash was used to rebalance working capital in the department. 21-20
