The ‘no vacancy’ sign hasn’t been put out yet but the shingle remains at the ready in the Fort McMurray region.

Despite the addition of 5,000 housing units between 1999 and 2004, officials with the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo estimate that another 8,000 dwellings will be required between 2004 and 2009, should all proposed oilsands undertakings move forward on their current schedule.

Last year, average prices for single-family homes in the area floated in the vicinity of $271,000 as opposed to $185,000 in Edmonton, said Mickey Cadden, deputy mayor of the regional municipality.

“As of January 2004 we were pushing $281,000, and the latest number I heard was that we’re near $300,000. Those prices are reflective of the laws of supply and demand,” said Cadden. “There is not enough housing, nor will there be in the near future, and that’s due mainly to new (oilsands) capital projects coming on stream almost hourly.”

Photo courtesy of Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
The Carrington complex in Fort McMurray’s downtown or Lower Townsite area is one of the city’s new developments.

Figures from the Athabasca Regional Issues Working Group (RIWG), which facilitates oilsands growth planning and involves resource developers and stakeholders, show seven oilsands projects are now under construction. Five more are under Alberta Energy and Utilities Board application, and another eight are at the public disclosure stage.

“(The oilsands) industry gave us a forecast in 1994 that there would be $5.7 billion of new projects over 25 years,” said Cadden. “In 1996 they changed that to $21 billion over 25 years. Their actual spending over the past eight years has been $28 billion.

“They will spend $6.1 billion in 2004 alone and $32 billion over the next 10 years, and that’s not including projects like True North that could have a huge impact.”

“This is not happening anywhere else in the world. Everyone wishes they had our problem, but what I’m concerned about is the impact on the average couple who wants to buy a home here. There are no homes and if there were, they’d have to float a $300,000 mortgage, and I’m not sure how they can make a payment on that,” said Cadden.

The region’s council also believes there is a hidden population – multiple families living in homes designed for single families.

Fort McMurray’s official population count was around the 35,000 level in 1996. Projections show that by 2011 it could reach 60,000 to as high as 80,000.

At the same time, Cadden doesn’t want to scare anyone away and states that the area is “a super place to live and the quality of life is improving drastically.”

New construction is abundant, with developments going into the Lower Townsite – known as Fort McMurray’s downtown area – and neighbourhoods such as Timberlea, Wood Buffalo Estates, Prairie Creek and Abasand Neck.

The two areas that will host the majority of future new growth are Timberlea, which is quickly becoming the largest neighbourhood within Fort McMurray, and a multi-family area within the Lower Townsite that officials are hoping to develop as an urban village capable of accommodating 7,000 new residents.

It would include a high-density mixture of multi-family housing, commercial and retail needs, and be closely linked to educational and recreational facilities.

Meanwhile, approximately 10 multi-family housing projects, totalling about 700 units, have been completed in the past year or are currently under construction, said Russell Dauk, manager of planning and development for the regional municipality.

“Approximately half of those are within the Lower Townsite as infill or redevelopment projects. The other half are within new suburban development locations,” said Dauk.

Single-family residential construction, or the pace of it, has been affected in the past 12 months by a relative shortage of serviced lots, said Dauk.

“Currently there are no serviced single-family residential lots available for purchase. We’re working with developers on the subdivision and servicing of approximately 400 additional residential lots, many of which have already been prepurchased by prospective buyers or builders.”

The next step, said Cadden – and one of the municipality’s most important objectives – is to work with the province, which holds the balance of developable lands, in order to have them released for servicing and development.

But the problem is not limited to Fort McMurray proper. “There’s demand for additional growth outside the urban service area, particularly to the southeast of Fort McMurray in the areas of Anzac and Conklin,” added Dauk.

There are 600 people living in Anzac. Cadden suspects it will grow to 1,500 in 18 to 24 months. “The problem is that there are zero serviced lots available,” said Cadden. “The answer for the short term . . . is we need help from the federal and provincial governments.

“Our oilsands will be producing two million barrels of oil a day by 2010, oil that Alberta and Canada needs. But now it’s us, the golden goose, that needs some food because she’s getting a little thin.”

WOOD BUFFALO HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT CORP.
* Created in 2001 after several seasons of escalating rents, the Wood Buffalo Housing and Development Corp. has a mandate to address the housing needs of low- to moderate-income individuals, families and seniors.
* In its three years of operations, the corporation has created 376 new apartments, townhouses and homes. Two more projects are starting construction, one with 40 semi-detached homes, the other for 17 single-family homes.
* Rents within the corporation’s projects include special rates for residents on its waiting lists (that equal 30 per cent of a family income) and general rents. The range is from $390 for a single-room occupancy to a three-bedroom townhome at $940.
* Rental rates in non-subsidized housing can range from $389-$880 for a bachelor unit, $800-$1,375 for a one-bedroom apartment, $985-$1,675 for two bedrooms, $900-$1,500 for three bedrooms and $1,300-$1,320 for a four-bedroom unit.

– Sources: Wood Buffalo Housing and Development Corp.; Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.