A paved pathway at the Coulee Ridge Development ( Tiffany Goodwein/CHAT NEWS)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Coulee Ridge pushes forward despite COVID-19

Sep 13, 2020 | 5:46 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB– Situated on the outskirts of the city are construction crews paving the way for the Coulee Ridge development that once built will house some 175 to 200 homes in a two pond coulee community.

The sights and sounds of construction crews shifting dirt around and pouring the pavement is a sight that in some ways could be hard to envision given the harsh realities of COVID-19. But nonetheless, the development has pushed ahead.

“We had to make a strategic decision at that point we were concerned about whether or not to go ahead or not or maybe we should pause like most people did, but then we thought it was more important to attack and move forward because we thought that we could be part of the solution of getting people back to work,” said Don Sandford CEO of Enclave Ventures.

The economic spinoff for the community is something Sandford said is hard to put a number on at the moment.

“ It’s hard to really say because you know onsite you may have 30 or 40 people but back in the engineering office you might have another 10, and then you might have all the people that are associated with the approvals and all the people that might be associated with architectural controls, so it does have kind of a ripple effect,” said Sandford.

WHAT'S ON

Here is what's on this weekend in Medicine Hat and area: Dec. 13-15

4h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

Medicine Hat's Mustard Seed adding new shelter spaces at Alberta government's request

Dec 12, 2024

HOLIDAYS

Medicine Hat Kiwanis hosting Christmas dinner, applications due Friday

Dec 12, 2024

Construction crews working away at the Coulee Ridge Development ( Tiffany Goodwein/ CHAT NEWS)

Since forging ahead, Sanford said they’ve increased crews and hope to have some homes built by the end of this construction season, in late November and early December.

Despite the economic uncertainty that erupted from COVID-19, demand for homes at the development is still remarkably high. For phase one of their development, which consists of roughly 46 lots , 22 of them have sold as of Saturday.

“ We had very strong pre-sales here and the pre-sales actually came from the consuming public, not just from the builders, and now we have approximately 20 builders involved in the build-out of Coulee Ridge, so things have happened in reverse here. Basically what has happened is upfront we had strong market demand. It wasn’t a build it and they will come scenario,” Sandford said.

Homes at the development will take approximately one year to build. Sandford anticipates that first time buyers will be able to move in by the fall of 2021.

A virtual viewing of homes at the Coulee Ridge Development ( Tiffany Goodwein/ CHAT NEWS)

Coulee Ridge is one stop along the Parade of Homes, which runs Sept. 9- Oct. 4. Visitors to the site can experience virtual homes through virtual reality technology.