Grande Prairie City Council has approved some zoning changes that would allow the construction of up to two apartment buildings in a portion of currently vacant land in the Trader Ridge area.
Mayor Jackie Clayton suggests the move is critical, as the city continues to battle Grande Prairie’s low vacancy rate.
“When we look to continue to grow and support the region in the growth, we recognize that the urban center of the city is where a significant amount of the housing will take place,” she says. “We know and we hear from industry on a regular basis that they’re looking to grow, in order for them to grow, we need more accommodation available, [and] this potential apartment complex will do just that.”
The plans are still in early stages, and the city has yet to select a developer; however, Mayor Clayton says her council is “optimistic” the development will see shovels in the ground sooner than later.
When it comes to budgetary impacts, Clayton says there will be none as the city does not own the land itself. Despite this, the Mayor suggests that the question of a potential transit expansion as a whole could be brought up during an upcoming budget deliberation session.
“We did hear from administration that any additional expansion to transit does require additional dollars,” she says. “The conversation about expanded on demand, expanded routes, some of those conversations will happen at this budget, not triggered by this apartment per se, but as we see this apartment potentially going down the road, there will be more conversations about transit needs.”
Clayton says assuming the project goes ahead as planned, and is in the ground sooner than expected, transit discussions and assessments should be expected as soon as the 2026 budget talks.
