After becoming Alberta's newest city to begin 2015, the City of Chestermere is now taking its first steps into land development.

Mayor Patricia Matthews says Thursday was a big day for the City.

"We are very excited to announce our second of the firsts that we're experiencing in Chestermere this year, which is a land acquisition of 101 acres," she says. "The intent with that land is to develop like we've never developed in Chestermere before, and offer employment centres to those who want to come and help us diversify our tax base."

Matthews says the land purchase is to facilitate growth in the city, but not necessarily to increase the population.

"It's not housing at all," she says. "We've spent a great deal of time attracting businesses to Chestermere, but this is an area we don't currently have, and we want to make sure we have that as an offering, and we invite people to call us and we'll tell them all about it."

Courtesy the City of Chestermere

Matthews says after the decision to become a city, it's important to keep moving towards becoming a more viable community.

"We took a step to create our own destiny, and we did that in January by becoming a city," she says. "This is the second step in doing that, and it gives us the opportunity to create a non-residential tax base, and make ourselves even more sustainable for our residents, and our future."

In a release, the City of Chestermere provided some background information about the decision and the land itself:

The Land

  • The land is located in the south east portion of Chestermere.

  • This development in Chestermere will offer excellent access to the TransCanada Highway, Calgary International Airport, and the CN Logistics Park, in addition to no business licence tax, an available workforce, competitive tax rates and a stunning community in which to work, live, and play.

  • The land will be developed for 1-5 acre lots for light industrial and commercial businesses.

  • Types of businesses the City is seeking includes professional and technical services (e.g. engineering firms, mechanics), distribution and logistics (e.g. warehouses, third party logistics), research and development, and manufacturing (e.g. small scale indoor production and fabrication).

Courtesy the City of Chestermere

  • This development will not include ‘smoke stacks’ or outdoor industrial storage areas.

  • There will be very high standards and architectural controls for this area to ensure it is visually appealing and fits into the character of the City.

  • Over the next two years, the City will pursue the regular development process starting with an Area Structure Plan.

  • The City anticipates that it will be selling lots in the next 1-2 years.

  • The City estimates that full development of this area will take 5-10 years.

  • Chestermere’s Economic Development staff are currently speaking with interested investors and can be reached at (403) 207-7093.

The Decision

  • The City of Chestermere has purchased 101 acres of land.

  • This is the only piece of developable land the City owns and any return on investment will contribute to the costs of amenities and services for residents.

  • There are currently no light industrial areas available for investors/companies in Chestermere.

  • No developers have any current or future plans to add light industrial areas.