Work begins on Michener Park housing community

Shovels symbolically broke ground near the University of Alberta’s south campus Wednesday, giving a new look to an old location.

The 32-acre Michener Park site – just south of the U of A farms – held the university’s student residence for graduate and married students.

Townhomes on the site were bulldozed last year.

Now it will be rebuilt as a mix of condos, rentals and commercial space.

“There is a significant demand for new housing, particularly in full housing here in Edmonton,” said Greg Dewling, president and CEO of the University of Alberta Properties Trust (UAPT).

“So there should be approximately 900 new homes built here over the next five years.”

Michener Park is the first of several premier communities Dewling says the UAPT will redevelop in south Edmonton.

The UAPT was formed by the university to develop lands deemed “not central to its academic mission of teaching and research.”

The Michener Park community will provide a revenue stream for the U of A.