What happened to the urban village planned for Fort Road in Edmonton?

EDMONTON – If you build it, will they come?  That’s the question some people are asking when it comes to the redevelopment of Fort Road.

“Well, when we opened, it was supposed to be revitalized,” says Nancy Chekowski, who runs My Grandma’s Attic along the strip.  The shop, which sells antique and collectible items, opened in 2010.

“The place is going nowhere”, says Nancy Chekowski.

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“The first year nothing happened and the second year nothing happened.  And five years – nothing has happened,” she says with a laugh.

The plans for Fort Road go back more than a decade.  It called for an urban village, new retail spaces and 1,500 new residents.

A community revitalization levy (CRL) was established. The plan was for  money to be borrowed for infrastructure and streetscape improvements before being paid off from the CRL which would be funded with the uplift in property taxes in the revitalized area.

“We’ll need to be industrious about supporting transit-oriented development at that location over time,” said Mayor Don Iveson in response to questions during his year-end interview with Global News.

“We can essentially absorb the challenges that we’re having there,” says Mayor Don Iveson

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The project, according to the mayor, is not substantially impacting the city’s bottom line.

“It’s a matter of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year which against a $2-billion budget, and against the assumption that when it eventually takes off we will recover it, we’ll be able to manage the short to medium-term challenges,” said the mayor.

Back in her shop, Nancy Chekowski reflects on what was planned and what is.

“I love this place and I’m praying hard something will happen.  But honestly, I don’t see anything happening.”