Phased approach now sought for residential development on large Canoe property

Published 11:13 am Monday, January 19, 2026

Residential development plans have changed for a large Canoe Beach Drive property, with the developer now taking a flexible phased approach.

On Monday morning, Jan. 19, David Claeys of BDGA Development Company Inc. virtually attended the city’s development and planning services committee, with a development permit application for 4600 Canoe Beach Drive.

Proposed for a portion of the property is a 36 unit medium-density residential development consisting of six 6-plex buildings.

The application also included variance request, to decrease the minimum driveway length from five metres (16.4 feet) to 2.3 metres (7.5 feet). Committee members, however, were more focused on 4600 and the adjacent property at 4400. In 2022, council approved another development permit application by Claeys/BDGA for both. At that time, the plan was to develop the 3.6 hectare (8.9 acre) property with 60 duplexes containing 120 units.

The new proposal sees 4600 reduced to a 1.3 acre parcel on the property’s easternmost end.

About the proposed development, Claeys said while up to 64 units is permitted, only 36 are proposed, and the planned setbacks and site coverage will allow for more greenspace.

“Fifty-five per cent site coverage is what we’re allowed – we’re down to 37 per cent. So I do feel we have come up with a really happy mix of having a lot of greenspace, increasing the density somewhat…”

Asked about the phased approach, Claeys delved into lessons learned from what was previously proposed, noting the property has been very expensive to develop with the off-site work alone.

“The biggest problem we had was we had to shell out $3 million before we could even build one single unit for offsite costs and putting everything in,” said Claeys. “So what I’ve learned is we need to reduce our risks, and that’s why we’re proposing a boundary realignment, making 4600 a smaller parcel, putting it into two separate projects…

“The reason why I want to go this route is I want to do smaller projects so we can adapt to what the market needs and what the community needs. That was the biggest mistake I made, was trying to do one big development where you’re locked into that and you can’t adapt…”

Asked if the new units will be rental or market sale, Claeys said the latter, adding “we’re going to be trying to come in at a very good price point.”

Claeys said the development will include 12, 550-square-foot one-bedroom units “that will allow first-time home buyers to get into the market… somebody who is downsizing, somebody who travels in the winter, instead of renting something you can actually own for basically the same price as you’d pay rent.” Also planned are four three-bedroom units of approximately 1,550 square feet. Claeys described the units as nice and wide (as opposed to long and narrow), with “tons of storage.”

Carried over from the previous proposal is the intent to extend 45th Street NE to Canoe Beach Drive, though that won’t happen until a later phase.

“We would likely, at the first subdivision, require at least a road reserve covenant to protect that alignment,” commented development planning and community services director Gary Buxton.

Asked if he would consider installing conduit to permit installation of solar cells or electric vehicle charging stations, Claeys said all the garages will have a Level 2 charger for electric cars. The units will also have heat pumps. Regarding solar, Claeys said he didn’t think buyers would be able to afford it, and that it would be complicated with the development being a strata.

Coun. Louise Wallace Richmond commented on the ongoing process to develop the property, noting it’s also been a learning experience for council.

“I think the community has had expectations and reality is, with such a long frontage, it makes it very challenging to do it all on one go….,” said Wallace Richmond. “There aren’t a lot of duplexes/townhome type structures in Canoe so this is a nice addition and I’m happy to support it moving on to the public hearing next week.”

With the committee’s support, the application and variance will be on the agenda for the Jan. 26 council meeting.

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