The mayor says the recommendations from sustainable development experts is to build up, don't sprawl, build in your downtown core and improve the green space.
"That's what we're doing. We're meeting a need with the rental units but we're also improving the green space in the area," he said.
Construction is also scheduled to begin shortly on a new $130 million hospital, which will have the first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine in the Interlake region.
Further boosting the city's image as a regional health-care hub is the opening of the area's first "quick care" walk-in clinic.
Selkirk has also partnered with the province to build a new $7.7 million library. Construction has begun and it's expected the grand opening will be next spring.
Retail
Whereas dollars used to travel south as Selkirk shoppers drove to Winnipeg, the mayor thinks the flow has not only been stopped, but reversed.
"We're drawing from hundreds of thousands of people. Everything you could possibly need is here now. We didn't have that before. It just seems to be our time," he said.
All of the activity has made Selkirk a favourite of Shindico Realty. Broker John Pearson said the city is now a key retail hub in the region. All five big chartered banks are there, as well as several credit unions, and it has the only Walmart, Canadian Tire and Canada Safeway locations in the trading area. Real Canadian Superstore has already purchased land for a new outlet.
"It's not the population in Selkirk [that attracts us], it's the surrounding [trading] areas of St. Andrews and Lockport," Pearson said.
Shindico is about to break ground on a multimillion-dollar, 85-room Canalta Hotel, which will feature both a conference centre and a pool. The hotel will sit on about two acres of a nine-acre parcel of land and Shindico is actively shopping the rest of the space.
The mayor is particular proud of what's going on in Selkirk's less-affluent north end.
Developers have been buying dilapidated homes there on 100-foot lots, which the city has allowed them to split into three 33-foot lots to improve the city's affordable housing stock.
"It seems to pick up the area where you build these new homes. [Developers] are able to build energy-efficient homes for a good price." Johannson said.
Housing
The Selkirk housing market has historically been very stable. According to George Hacking, a Century 21 Jefferson & Associates realtor, prices have increased 19 per cent in 2013 compared with 2012.
"Now, value-minded buyers are taking a look at Selkirk for both new and resale homes," Hacking said, adding that some large older homes - and expensive new ones - have taken more than 100 days to sell, but a small bungalow can change hands in a matter of hours.
"I think there's a lot of downsizing going on," he said. "People are coming from a bigger home. It's a bit of an age-driven market. We've got people selling a house in St. Andrews, Winnipeg or Thompson or even Alberta, and they can buy a house here and not have any mortgage but still have a very good lifestyle."
Meanwhile, cranes are also still flocking to the city.
from Western Investor July 2013
