Opportunities Often Come In Disguise

If you read my last blog, you know I recently went to a seminar on redeveloping brownfields. I was a bit tired from a busy week, wasn't too excited about the seminar, and really didn't want to go that morning. But I did go, and was glad I went. I learned a lot of useful information on redeveloping contaminate real estate. Sometimes good things come disguised.

While there, I met a couple of ladies who work for the City of Edmonton in redeveloping older neighborhoods. We chatted a bit about inner city neighborhood redevelopment and decided to meet the next week. What do you know, another opportunity hidden at the next table to me in the Seminar.

A North American Trend

Before I get to the goodies, a little preamble is in order. North America is undergoing a trend continent-wide. Big city downtowns slowly became somewhat dilapidated over time. In recent years, the trend has been turning around; inner city neighborhoods have been experiencing renewed interest and positive development. In combination with this development is another current trend that is actually working in conjunction with downtown redevelopment, the Village Concept. Over time, humankind has moved from caves to villages to towns to cities, and finally to megacities. As we all know, megacities have numerous problems (which are beyond the scope of today's blog) including significant travel times to and from work and other locations. The Village Concept is an attempt to create a village within the city. Most of the facilities a person needs to get through the day are developed within a small area, and are mixed in with multifamily properties to create a "village".

The convergence of these two trends in North America at the same time is rather serendipitous. Redevelopment of inner-city neighborhoods with an emphasis on the village concept brings the best of both trends together in a true "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts" relationship. It is only a matter of time until our older downtown neighborhoods become gems and focal points of their respective cities. An opportunity of epic proportions is in the making. Enter the City of Edmonton

Edmonton Opportunities

The City of Edmonton is doing its part to facilitate the transformation as quickly as possible. I guess now would be an appropriate time to clarify the word "quickly". This is not going to happen overnight. In fact for some time to come, it will be like watching grass grow.The early stages of such a Phoenix rising from the ashes are difficult. After all, we are working with inner-city neighborhoods and they do have their challenges. But as development slowly occurs, the risks diminish, and when development hits that critical mass, it will snowball. The difference between getting in too soon and too late is a very fine line.

Okay, back to the City. The City of Edmonton has a Department of Great Neighborhoods. You've got to like that. The department works with investors, developers, landowners, REALTORS® and anyone else in need, to help facilitate the redevelopment as quickly as possible, and to ensure redevelopment occurs in a manner that provides, well, a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

And the opportunities are there. There has quietly been a substantial amount of development in some of the target neighborhoods and it is spreading out. A few developers have quietly (as always) assembled parcels of land for development, numerous new business developments have occurred, many dedicated homeowners have built and renovated homes in the area. So where is the next opportunity?

Finally, the million dollar question. While there is no real answer to where the next great opportunity lies, simple due diligence can help you make wiser decisions. Get yourself a good area map and jump into your car and drive the neighborhoods...a few times. Because each time you drive the neighborhood you will see things you didn't see last time. Log on to the City's web site http://edmonton.ca and http://maps.edmonton.ca and check out new development in the area. Finally, when you are getting a good picture of what is going on, make an appointment to see the folks in the Department of Great Neighborhoods. They can help you get a complete picture of what is going on.

In the end, the risks are always yours as a real estate investor or user, but well-managed risk is always a part of any real estate venture. Over the long term, real estate opportunities tend to greatly outstrip the risk, and the opportunities are definitely there in downtown Edmonton. Check it out.