83 Street Land Use Update:

Rezoning and Open Space Opportunity

In late summer 2024, Hasco Development Corp hired Situate, local planning consultants, to prepare a rezoning application for their property at 7814 – 83 Street NW—currently home to Al Mustafa Academy and formerly St. James School. The initial plan was to allow new housing on a portion of the west field, while maintaining the existing school and its operations on the east side of the site.

As conversations with the community continued through the fall and beyond, a new possibility took shape: to preserve the west field as open space and explore the option of building housing at a different location instead.

This webpage was created to share background on the proposed land exchange, provide updates, and answer common questions.

*Image Source: Google Earth

What is the Land Exchange Opportunity?

A vacant City-owned property is located just south of the Al Mustafa Academy along 83 Street NW. Formerly used as a laydown yard during LRT construction, the City intends to to sell the site for redevelopment into new housing. This site could potentially be purchased by Hasco to build new homes and in turn, Hasco would sell the west field of the school site to the City in a linked land exchange. This would result in the field becoming City-owned and protected as open space.

The proposed exchange would allow the west field to remain available for Al Mustafa Academy students and the surrounding community, while relocating the new housing slightly south along 83 Street. If the land exchange is successful, Hasco would cancel their rezoning application for the school site and the ownership of the west field space would transfer to the City.

Updates

April 30, 2025 Community Information Session

Thank you to all the community members who attended the Information Session on April 30th! 26 community members attended and we heard from many folks who support the land exchange idea. The poster materials from the meeting can be downloaded here.

May 14, 2025 Executive Committee Meeting

In February 2025, City Council approved a motion directing City Administration to explore the land exchange.

On May 14, 2025, the Executive Committee then discussed the land exchange opportunity. Many letters of support for the land exchange opportunity were submitted by community members to the City. A community member, the principal of Al Mustafa Academy and our team (Hasco and Situate) spoke during the meeting to express continued interest in pursuing a land exchange that would support both new housing on the City-owned lands at 76 Avenue and 83 Street, and the long-term preservation of the field space beside the Al Mustafa Academy.

While the exact land exchange motion our team proposed was not passed by the Committee, the Committee approved a motion confirming their interest in acquiring the field space next to Al Mustafa Academy so that it can remain open space for the benefit of the students and wider community. They also directed City Administration to continue discussions with the Government of Alberta to resolve Government of Alberta Green Trip funding issues that are delaying the sale of the City-owned lands at 7604 to 7624 – 83 Street.

What Happens Next?

The door to a potential land exchange remains open, and we are continuing conversations with City Administration over the coming weeks and months to determine if there is a path forward to enable it to happen.

Stay tuned to this website for future updates.

Your Support Matters

If there is a path forward for the land exchange, it will go back to Council for decision in the future.

At that time, the Councillors will consider how to proceed and if they want to enable the land exchange to move forward, and it's critical that they hear from members of the community. Strong, visible public support demonstrates to the Councillors that this land exchange opportunity matters to the community.

To stay up to date on the land exchange opportunity and when to reach to City Council to share your support, please sign up for project email updates below.

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If you would like to receive email updates, please sign up here.

History & Background

The site at 7814 - 83 Street was home to the St. James Catholic Elementary School site until 2014, when the Edmonton Catholic School Division (ECSD) decided to close the school because it was under capacity. The school subsequently closed in June 2016.

In 2017, the Al Mustafa Academy started leasing the school from the ECSD. Then in 2020, the ECSD approved the public sale of the site. In 2021, members of the Hasco team worked with the Academy and bought the site in order to lease the school building to Al Mustafa Academy and build housing on part of the west field space.

In late summer 2024, Hasco hired Situate to apply to rezone the site to the Mixed Use (MU) Zone in order to allow for the new housing. At the King Edward Park Community League Day in September 2024, Hasco and Situate were on hand to provide background information on the proposed rezoning and answer questions from community members.

Through those conversations and afterward, a the land exchange opportunity came to light: to preserve the west field as open space and shift the housing to a different location.

Where Would the Housing Be Located?

Instead of building housing on part of the west field space, new housing could be built on the corner of 76 Avenue and 83 Street.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are we exploring the land exchange opportunity?

Through conversations with the community, we heard that the west field space is important to community members. We are exploring the land exchange opportunity because it's a win-win solution to preserve field space for the benefit of the Academy’s students and the greater community, and at the same time, new housing could still be built in an area where there is great access to transit, schools, parks and the commercial amenities on 85 Street and at Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre.

Does the Al Mustafa Academy support the land exchange opportunity? And will they be affected by it?

We are collaborating closely with the Academy throughout this process. They are supportive of the proposed rezoning we originally applied for, and the land swap opportunity.

The Academy will continue to operate in the school building, and field space beside it could become publicly owned open space if the land exchange goes ahead.

Why didn't the Al Mustafa Academy buy the former St. James School Site?

When the Edmonton Catholic School Division put the land up for public sale, it wasn't financially feasible for the Al Mustafa Academy to purchase the site. Members of the Hasco team then worked with the Academy and bought the site in order to lease the school building to the Academy so that they could remain operating in King Edward Park, and build housing on part of the west field space.

What is the status of rezoning application for the Al Mustafa Academy site (former St. James School site)?

We have paused the rezoning application while we explore the land exchange opportunity. If the land exchange is successful, we will cancel the rezoning application.

Who will own the west field space if the land exchange is successful?

The ownership of the west field space would be transferred to the City and it would be protected as public open space. Hasco would retain ownership of the east side of the site where the school building, playground, and basketball courts are, with the intention to transfer ownership over to the Al Mustafa Academy.

Questions?

We're committed to being a good neighbour; please feel welcome to contact us with any questions, concerns or considerations.

Project Team

Allison Rosland | Planning Consultant | Situate | allison@situateinc.ca

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