December 01, 2007

Edmonton developer Ravi Gill is planning to build 435 new homes in Redwater to house industrial workers and retiring farmers. Redwater is ideally located for a growing workforce in the nearby Industrial Heartland, he says. Site preparation already has started for the NorthWest upgrader and “the Petro-Canada upgrader is likely to get its clearance in 2008.” With America’s thirst for a reliable oil supply and Premier Ed Stelmach’s encouragement of an Alberta bitumen- upgrading industry “it doesn’t take too much thought to know that this area has to grow,” Gill says.

He thinks Redwater is an ideal residential centre because it has a library, schools, hospital, RCMP detachment, recreation facilities and retailers. Gill also appreciates Redwater’s strategic location, 30 minutes northeast of Edmonton on Highway 28 and Highway 38. It’s on the route to Fort McMurray and already houses many families of oilsands workers, he says.

Redwater, with a population of 2,200 that’s expected to double within five years, also attracts residents who work on industrial sites in Fort Saskatchewan and Strathcona county — and people who are retiring from nearby farms.

Gill immigrated to Edmonton in 1997 after retiring as a Commander in the Indian navy. He and his brother, Harry Gill, founded Silver Crest Homes, which built 120 custom homes in seven years. Gill then left Silver Crest to form Sarja Master Builder and Terragold Inc. — which is proposing to develop Riverbank Estates on 41 hectares overlooking the Redwater River. Gill has presented a plan to Redwater town council and to a public open house for a mix of single family homes, duplexes and row houses plus space for eventual development of apartment style condominiums. An adjacent Riverbank Business Park would have six hectares of office and warehouse development. “Our goal is to have Phase One lots available by November 2008,” with the entire project completed in five years, Gill says.

He expects one-third acre serviced lots to start at $180,000 — compared to $300,000 in Fort Saskatchewan and $400,000 in Sherwood Park. Smaller serviced lots, 50 feet by 120 feet, will sell for $120,000 to $145,000. Terragold will sell those lots through Redwater realtor Amanda Bodson. Builders will include Krisner Quality Homes, Octo Homes of Redwater, SilverCrest Homes and Sarja Master Builder. Gill’s proposed area structure plan “is scheduled to go before the town council for first reading probably before Christmas,” says Dave McRae, the town’s
project manager.

“He has a very good location,” McRae says. “It’s a pretty piece of land and he’s looking at a cross-section of housing types for different economic groups, ensuring that each group has benefit of the geography and the walking trails.” Gill also has started planning Connaught Square, a four-hectare development at Highway 38 and 65th
Street in Redwater, where he hopes to build 245 housing units plus a hotel, strip mall and professional offices.

Ron Chalmers
The Edmonton Journal (Source)