The commitment to turn the Yards into a net-zero community is exciting to the executive director of Regina’s Warehouse Business Improvement District — but she has questions.
“We don’t fully understand how this is going to position the Yards against other properties that the city owns and will also be looking to lease and sell and how that will prioritize the yards in the greater picture of things,” Leasa Gibbons said.
“We’re cautiously optimistic, I would say at this stage.”
Earlier in the week, Regina city council added a concept document for the large vacant lot on the south side of Dewdney Avenue between Albert and Broad streets to Regina’s Official Community Plan, directing staff to pursue it as a net-zero community.
Gibbons isn’t the only one wondering about the implications.
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While council has pledged to turn Regina into a renewable city by 2050 and assigned staff to work on a sustainability framework this year, the city’s director of land and real estate noted there just isn’t a definition of net-zero in-house yet.
Net-zero is typically used to describe a building that produces at least the same amount of energy that it consumes. What it will mean in the broader description of The Yards property is still unknown, said Shauna Bzdel, who expects that will come as the city forges ahead with council’s visions around sustainability.
“As we’re planning for more detail of how that neighbourhood’s going to look, that’s when we’re going to really be considering what net-zero looks like and how we can achieve that,” Bzdel said.
One of the goals in developing the property is to link the warehouse district with the downtown.
Judith Veresuk, executive director of Regina’s Downtown Business Improvement District, said she could potentially see the label as a short-term deterrent to some builders, but that over the long-term, it’s going to be a necessity.
“I think the city is taking a leadership role in taking the largest development parcel in the centre of our city and hopefully using it as a model to demonstrate how communities can get to net-zero,” she said. “Hopefully, private developers will take some pointers and eventually the rest of the city can follow suit.
As part of the next phase of planning, council has directed the city to pursue collaboration with the warehouse and downtown business improvement districts as well as with the Regina Exhibition Association Limited.
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