FAQ
Q. WHO WILL BE THE DEVELOPER OF THE OAKDALE 55+ SENIOR RESIDENCES?
A. The property is owned and will be developed by Exemplar Developments and EdgeCorp Group. Exemplar Developments specializes in residential subdivisions, multifamily developments, and commercial developments, backed by expertise and a passion for creating beautiful, sought-after neighborhoods and other real estate projects. EdgeCorp Group is a Winnipeg-based integrated real estate development group that provides a high level of service throughout all stages of real estate development from procurement, planning, design, and construction management to property management.
Q. WHO WILL OPERATE THE OAKDALE 55+ SENIOR RESIDENCES?
A. M3K Management Ltd, owned by the EdgeCorp Group, will operate the complex. This owner/operator model ensures consistent property management of the highest quality.
Q. WHAT IS THE TARGET MARKET IN TERMS OF PRICE?
A. The buildings will have one, two, and three bedroom units that are sized and priced to accommodate maximum access to the development and the opportunity for residents to age in place.
Q. IS THERE A TARGET MARKET IN TERMS OF AGE?
A. The building is targeted at Charleswood residents that are 55+ as Charleswood currently has a shortage of units for its large senior population. The suite mix includes independent, universal, and adaptable suites as well as amenity spaces for residents to gather. The Charleswood 55+ Active Living Centre will be located on site providing residents easy access to this community meeting place.
Q. WILL THERE BE UNDERGROUND PARKING?
A. The complex will have underground and external parking for residents, the Charleswood 55+ Active Living Centre, staff, and visitors. Based on similar projects the experience has been that the high degree of connectivity to amenities and other preferred destinations, such as medical offices and shopping and the integration of a seniors Active Living Centre into the property reduce the requests for parking for private vehicles. Thus, most residents will not need parking.
Q. WHY THIS LOCATION FOR SENIORS RESIDENCES AND THE CHARLESWOOD 55+ ACTIVE LIVING CENTRE?
A.
1.0 Opportunities for residents to access day to day amenities.
This location provides residents with direct access to day-to-day amenities including a large grocery chain outlet, fuel station, restaurants and cafes, medical clinics, and other retail businesses. These amenities are all located within a short 600m walk or cycle of their residence via Grant or William R. Clement Parkway multi-use path.
The Charleswood 55+ Active Living Centre will form an integral component of the Oakdale 55+ Housing Community. The Centre will be approximately 4,000 sq. ft. and will include a fitness room, offices, reception, storage, arts and crafts room and a multipurpose room (designed for educational, mental, and physical health related programming and social interaction) along with kitchen facilities and partitions to create functional areas that can be used simultaneously. The large outdoor patio space will be ideal for physical activity and social engagement.
The facility will include extensive landscaped green space including outdoor sitting areas and patios and significant areas of lawn with preserved mature trees along Oakdale and preserved wooded areas within the north and east yards.
The facility is located within walking distance (approximately 300m) of public parks and an off- leash dog park and within cycling distance (approximately 1.5km) of Assiniboine Park with extensive walking and biking trails.
2.0 Walk and Bike Opportunities and Bike Parking.
The Site is designed to City of Winnipeg Universal Design/Accessibility Guidelines and includes an internal system of pedestrian sidewalks and crossings that are a minimum of 1.5 meters (5’- 0”) wide.
The Site has direct and immediate access to the William R. Clement Parkway multi-use path system and the new sidewalk on the east side of Oakdale provides direct access to the sidewalks on Grant Avenue.
There is a total of 47 bicycle stalls provided inside of the building and 12 provided outside, 4 at each of the 3 main building entrances.
3.0 Access to Public Transportation.
The walking distances from the proposed buildings main entrances to the nearest transit stops are:
Grant Avenue public transit stops (at the intersection of Oakdale and Grant) is approximately 250m.
William R. Clement Parkway public transit stops is approximately 250m.
Two bus routes (65/66 Downtown on Grant and 98 Grace Hospital on William R. Clement Parkway) provide good service (approximately every 15 minutes) in the am and pm peaks and service approximately every 25 minutes in non-peak.
Q. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THE INCREASE IN TRAFFIC ON OAKDALE WITH THE OAKDALE 55+ SENIOR RESIDENCES.
A. A third-party engineering firm has been engaged to do a Traffic Review for the Oakdale 55+ Senior Residences and the Charleswood 55+ Active Living Centre. Given that this is a facility for seniors it is anticipated that the increased traffic on Oakdale Drive should be minimal and less than when the Church was in full operation.
Q. WILL EXISTING TREES AND WOODED AREAS BE RETAINED?
A. Front yards, side yards, and backyards will be established to retain existing mature trees and wooded areas on site and along shared property lines maintaining the existing heavily treed perimeter view of the site.
Q. WILL ADDITIONAL TREES BE PLANTED ALONG OAKDALE AND SHARED PROPERTY LINES, SO RESIDENTS ARE LOOKING AT TREES INSTEAD OF THE NEW BUILDINGS?
A. Additional trees will be planted along Oakdale and shared property lines and throughout the site to provide a landscape buffer and park like setting.
Q. WILL THE HEIGHT OF THE BUILDINGS INTERFERE WITH THE SUN LEVELS ON ADJACENT PROPERTIES?
A. Shadow Studies indicate that no adjacent properties will be affected by shadows as significant setbacks have been maintained.
Q. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THE BUILDING HEIGHTS.
A. Concerns were raised regarding the height of Building A which the developer has noted for further review.
Q. ARE THERE ANY OFFSITE IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED AND IF SO, WHO IS PAYING FOR THEM?
A. There will be offsite improvements which are all being paid by the developer. These include:
Upgrades to the sewer, watermain and land drainage systems
Installation of a sidewalk that connects the multi-use path north of the development to Grant Avenue
Extend the upgraded roadway cross section south of the property to the northern limit of the development
Q. WILL ANY OF THE OFFSITE IMPROVEMENTS MADE BY THE DEVELOPER INCREASE MY PROPERTY TAXES?
A. As the developer will be paying for the offsite costs in their entirety there will be no increase in property taxes related to the improvements. In addition, the new Oakdale 55+ Senior Residences will generate additional property tax dollars contributing more money to the City’s tax revenue from Oakdale Drive.
Q. IS THIS PROJECT AN UNPRECEDENTED MID RESIDENTIAL STREET DEVELOPMENT IN WINNIPEG?
A. The development is located approximately 275m north of Grant Avenue. The total length of Oakdale Drive is approximately 900m between Grant Avenue and Roblin Boulevard. The site is located in the first quarter of Oakdale street - north of Grant Avenue.
This development is unprecedented in Winnipeg as the site is truly unique in size and character for this type of development. The existing Place of Worship land use, perimeter mature tree canopy and proximity to amenities and transit, create a unique and unprecedented site ideally suited for 55+ Seniors Residences. The existing Place of Worship land provides the opportunity to repurpose this developed site for other land uses that benefit and address the needs of the Charleswood Community as a whole.
The existing mature front yard tree canopy, mature trees along the perimeter and the wooded areas provide the potential to integrate a new 55+ Senior’s Residences within the site’s interior open areas, situated behind the mature trees and surrounding wooded areas creating a park like setting for these senior’s homes. The site is immediately adjacent to an existing multi family site to the south, parks and walk/bike opportunities to the north and along the William R Clement Parkway. It is within a 5-minute walk of frequent transit service on Grant and within a 10-minute walk of the Charleswood Shopping Centre offering day to day needs and other commercial and personal service amenities.
Q. WILL THE DEVELOPMENT CREATE A MAJOR INCREASE IN UNCONTROLLED TRAFFIC?
A. The 363-365 Oakdale Drive Draft Transportation Study Technical Memorandum indicates that the existing street, with upgrades recommended by City of Winnipeg Public Works Department noted in h and i below, is suitable for the traffic generated by the proposed development. The Engineers are presently doing additional work to substantiate the findings in their Study, so we expect it to be finalized in the coming weeks after the City of Winnipeg Planning and Public Works Departments review the report.
a. 2021 background volume of 478 trips per day on Oakdale Drive.
b. Development is forecast to generate 580 trips per weekday (350 trips north on Oakdale Drive, 230 trips south on Oakdale Drive). This compares with the former church land use which on average saw approximately 120 to 160 trips per weekday, 260 – 350 trips per day five times a month associated with specific events, and 450 – 600 trips per day on two Sundays per month.
c. The ITE Trip Generation Manual was used to forecast daily vehicle trips generated by the proposed apartment development and 55+ active living centre. Similar 55+ developments in Winnipeg were used to confirm the appropriate ITE Trip Generation Category was selected. (455 Westwood Drive, 20 Cal Gardener Drive and 130 Sage Creek Boulevard).
d. During the AM peak hour (7:30 AM to 8:30 AM) the Development is forecast to generate a trip every 3 to 4 minutes to Oakdale Drive north of development (17 trips) and a trip every 5 to 6 minutes to Oakdale Drive south of development (11 trips).
e. During the PM peak hour (4:00 PM to 5:00 PM) the Development is forecast to generate a trip every 2 minutes to Oakdale Drive north of site (29 trips) and a trip every 3 minutes to Oakdale Drive south of site (20 trips).
f. The post-development results indicate that no issues are anticipated at the intersection of Roblin Boulevard at Oakdale Drive, nor at Grant Avenue at Oakdale Drive. Queues and delays at the two intersections were not significantly affected by the proposed development.
g. 2025 post development traffic is forecasted at 1,045 trips per day on Oakdale Drive in front of the development.
h. Based on the post-development projections, the existing speed humps on Oakdale Drive are an appropriate treatment to continue to limit vehicle speeds on Oakdale Drive.
i. Based on the post-development projections, the City’s requirement that the Developer construct a sidewalk from Grant Avenue to the public walk 55 m north of the site is an appropriate measure to mitigate effects of the increased traffic volumes on Oakdale Drive to pedestrians.
Q. WHAT IS THE DEVELOPER GOING TO DO TO IMPROVE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IN THE AREA?
A. Pedestrians will be able to use the new sidewalk, required to be installed by the developer at the developer’s expense, on the east side of Oakdale. The new sidewalk will connect the existing sidewalk and crosswalk on Grant to the existing cycling and walking path access from Oakdale to Tom Chester Park and the William R Clement multi-use pathway system. In addition, the existing speed humps on Oakdale are also an appropriate treatment to limit vehicle speeds on Oakdale Drive.
Q. WILL THE DEVELOPMENT INCREASE PEDESTRIAN/BIKE TRAFFIC FROM SURROUNDING STREETS?
A. The existing City bike path access through Tom Chester Park already brings pedestrian/bike traffic from surrounding streets as is the intent of these types of Community amenities.
Q. WHAT IS THE GUARANTEE THAT THE DEVELOPMENT WILL BE LIMITED TO SENIORS SINCE THERE ARE 3-BEDROOM UNITS IN THE DEVELOPMENT?
A. Seniors consulted in the development of the proposed plans specifically requested 3-bedroom units. To ensure clarity regarding the target demographics for the proposed development, the Developer will be changing the name from ‘Oakdale 50+ Residences’ to ‘Oakdale 55+ Senior’s Residences’.
Q. IS THIS DEVELOPMENT A DEPARTURE FROM THE EXISTING NEIGHBOURHOOD CHARACTER?
A. The Oakdale neighbourhood character is predominantly established by the mature trees within the approximately sixty-foot front yards that dominate the streetscape. The proposed development will preserve the mature trees within the proposed 60’ front yard and enhance the streetscape through the creation of berms with additional tree and shrub plantings within the front yard. In addition to the South of the proposed development there is an existing multi-family site.
Q. WILL THE SURROUNDING HOMES PRIVACY AND SECURITY BE COMPROMISED DUE TO THE HEIGHT OF THE BUILDINGS AND AN INCREASE IN NOISE/LIGHT POLLUTION?
A. Proposed Building A changes, retention of existing mature trees, new significant landscape buffers and lighting in accordance with the City of Winnipeg Zoning Bylaw will address these concerns.
a. The developer is proposing a reduction in the height of Building A from 63 feet to 55 feet to keep the building entirely within the canopy of existing mature trees and to answer the residents concern regarding the building being limited to 4 storeys. At 55 feet the building height is the height of a typical 4 storey wood building. This 55’ height is achieved because of the concrete steel construction which allows the floor to ceiling heights to be less and accordingly the overall height of the 5-story structure to be the same as a typical 4 story structure. Concurrently Building B will be increased to 7 storeys so the overall net change will be a reduction in units from 287 to 280 units.
b. Generous building setbacks permit dense landscape buffers, with significant berms and Spruce trees within the north and west greenspace corridors and with a Spruce hedgerow within the south greenspace corridor. These dense landscape buffers, combined with the retention of existing coniferous and deciduous trees, will be very effective in screening views to the existing homes year-round.
c. The proposed buildings will provide noise reduction benefits to the community as their relationship to the Parkway will block a certain amount of noise from it.
d. All lighting for the proposed development must be in accordance with the LIGHTING Sections 199-204 of the City of Winnipeg Zoning bylaw where it is stipulated that all light sources must be shielded to prevent glare and spill over.
Q. WILL THERE BE ADDITIONAL NOISE CAUSED BY BUILDING UTILITIES (HVAC)/SNOW REMOVALS?
A. All HVAC equipment is mounted on the roof of the buildings and will not create enough noise to be heard by residents. When the lot is cleared of snow the level of noise will be the same as was encountered when the Church parking lot was cleared or when COW streets are cleared.
Q. WHAT IS THE IMPACT TO EXISTING GREENSPACE AND WILDLIFE?
A. Existing wildlife corridors are maintained and enhanced. Mature trees and wooded areas will be preserved.
a. The north/south green corridor running along the east side of the site will be retained and widened by approximately one metre. The 60’ wide north/south green corridor along Oakdale, established by existing front yard setbacks will be retained. The east/west green corridor running along the south side of the site will be widened by approximately 2.6 metres. The east/west green corridor running along the north property line will be retained and enhanced. Although the width will be reduced from approximately 26m to approximately 13 metres, the length will be extended west, approximately 60 metres, to Oakdale.
b. The majority of the trees on the site will be preserved (over 215 of the approximately 300 trees on site), providing a tree preservation credit of over 750 trees. Of particular interest is a grove of Scots Pine, majority of the trees in fair to good condition, that will be retained within the north green corridor. Most of the trees to be removed are under 150mm caliper and in poor condition.
c. Over 50 deciduous trees and 60 coniferous trees and landscaped greenspace areas are proposed to be added to the site.
Q. WILL THERE BE DAMAGE TO TREES ON OR OFF THE DEVELOPMENT PROPERTY?
A. The very generous building setbacks along all property lines ensures no damage to trees not on development property. Strict tree preservation guidelines will be in place, monitored by the project’s landscape architects during construction, for the trees on the development property within all perimeter greenspace corridors which will also protect trees beyond the development property. Construction of the sidewalk and road upgrades will be undertaken in accordance with the City of Winnipeg construction details, employing the City’s standard tree protection specification for all City trees within the Public ROW. Trees at risk of damage within private property immediately adjacent to the Public ROW will also be protected in accordance with the City’s standard tree protection specification.
Q. WHAT ARE THE PLANS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS (STREET PAVING, SIDEWALK ADDITION, UPGRADE WATER AND SEWER SYSTEMS, DRAINAGE, SNOW CLEARING AND STREET PARKING)?
A. The developer will be required, at no expense to the City or the existing residents on Oakdale, to upgrade Oakdale Drive, from the existing urbanized roadway to the north limit of the developer’s property, with a full range of services, including new water, wastewater and land drainage sewers (with catch basins in lieu of the existing ditches). The developer will also be required, at no expense to the City or the existing residents on Oakdale, to construct a sidewalk on the east side of Oakdale from Grant Avenue to the public walk access from Oakdale to Tom Chester Park and the William R Clement multi use pathway system.
a. The proposed improvements to the existing street and full range of services, at the Developer’s expense, will address the above concerns regarding aging infrastructure and drainage concerns.
b. City Snow clearing operations, and inherent potential drainage concerns resulting from ice and snow clogged ditches and culverts, will be improved with the removal of the ditches (providing snow storage areas within the new sodded boulevards) and addition of the underground land drainage system.
c. No increase to street parking is anticipated given that greater than the required number of visitor parking stalls will be provided on site.
d. Drainage will be improved through the installation of the required municipal land drainage system on Oakdale Drive and the City’s standard requirement for all site water to be collected on the proposed 55+ Seniors Residences site in catch basins that connect to this new land drainage system in Oakdale.
Q. WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF DAMAGE TO OUR HOMES’ FOUNDATIONS DURING CONSTRUCTION?
A. All 3 buildings have been designed with underground parkades. Because of the generous setbacks all buildings are well back of any existing foundations. The parkade floors will be 12’ below ground. After the parkade is excavated to this level piling commences. At 12’ below ground we are well below the foundation of any existing homes or buildings that surround the development. In addition, before a pile is driven holes are pre-bored 3 meters. The pile is then inserted and driven. Therefore, the pile is approximately 22 feet below ground before it is driven and situated well back from any existing foundations. There will be no affect any existing foundations. To alleviate any concerns of residents, the Developer can have a visual inspection done of all resident’s basements who are concerned with seismic monitoring during piling.
Q. WILL THERE BE AN INCREASE TO OUR PROPERTY TAXES BECAUSE OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS?
A. The developer has no intention of applying for a Local Improvement for the paved roads and sidewalk and thus there is no mechanism by which the City can increase property taxes for the new paved road and sidewalk.
a. Should the developer be successful in rezoning the Oakdale property, the developer will construct and pay for all improvements to Oakdale required under their approved Development Agreement.
b. The developer will be required, at no expense to the City and the existing residents on Oakdale, to upgrade Oakdale Drive, from the existing urbanized roadway to the north limit of the developer’s property, with a full range of services, including new water, wastewater and land drainage sewers (with catch basins in lieu of the existing ditches). The developer will also be required, at no expense to the City and the existing residents on Oakdale, to construct a sidewalk on the east side of Oakdale from Grant Avenue to the public walk access from Oakdale to Tom Chester Park and the William R Clement multi use pathway system.