Making room: Strathcona County's next generation

A message from BILD Edmonton Metro:

"Success is enabling life to happen," said Adil Kodian, president and chief operating officer of Rohit Group of Companies.

For more than a decade, Kodian has watched that idea take shape in communities across the Edmonton region. Through his leadership in land development and homebuilding, he has seen plans move from paper to construction and, ultimately, become neighbourhoods where people build their lives.

For Kodian, some of the most rewarding moments come when he drives his team, municipal officials, and other stakeholders through the communities they helped create. The signs of success are often ordinary ones: neighbours talking to neighbours, freshly mowed lawns, and children playing in open spaces.

"Meaningful lives are happening here in the region," he said.

In Strathcona County, those lives — and the homes supporting them — are changing.

Rohit has been building in the county for decades. During that time, the company has watched one of the Edmonton region's most established residential markets begin to embrace a broader mix of housing. There is a gap between what Sherwood Park has and what the market needs, Kodian said. The county has been calling for a greater diversity of housing options to fill that gap.

Luciano Salvador, executive vice president of Rohit Communities, said municipal and elected officials increasingly recognize that the consumer has changed. New residents are arriving for employment opportunities, existing residents are aging, families are evolving, and buyers are looking for more attainable options. That means creating attractive homes for a much wider spectrum of residents — from first-time buyers and move-up families to multigenerational households and downsizers.

One place where that shift is already visible is Cambrian, a new Sherwood Park community north of Highway 16. Salvador has been leading development of the community of about 300 acres, which includes a mix of housing types ranging from single-family homes to row housing, alongside future commercial development.

"We started in 2022, and (we're) nearing the final 450 lots in that neighbourhood," Salvador said. "There has been great acceptance from the community for the housing products, and the absorption rate has been great. Lots of people are moving from the region into the community."

Together, Cambrian and the Hearthstone community from Mattamy Homes are expected to accommodate between 12,000 and 15,000 residents. "People are looking for a larger bandwidth of housing products and prices," Salvador said.

From Cambrian to Bremner: Learning what buyers value

For Rohit, Cambrian is both a community and a testing ground for ideas that can inform future development. Kodian and Salvador said the project incorporates lessons from communities Rohit has developed elsewhere. In turn, what the company has learned in Cambrian is helping to shape its future work with Qualico in Bremner.

The lessons are clear: buyers value affordability, connectivity to employment and Edmonton, access to large open spaces, safety, and a strong sense of community. They also want to feel that they are getting value for their investment and choosing a neighbourhood with its own distinct identity.

"Sherwood Park is known for its premium architecture, an increasing range of housing products and distinct community look and feel, and communities add to that," Kodian said.

Building the road ahead

Building homes is only one part of building a community. Roads, transportation networks, and other major infrastructure must keep pace. That has made public-private collaboration an important part of Strathcona County's growth story.

Rohit, Mattamy, and Strathcona County, for example, worked together to fund the Cambrian Crossing rail overpass, a $40.55-million infrastructure project largely funded by offsite development levies.

"This project is a prime example of how successful partnerships can promote innovation and help us grow," said Strathcona County Mayor Rod Frank. "It supports an effective and accessible transportation network — integral to a safe, healthy community and strong economy."

Kodian believes partnerships like this should make communities such as Strathcona County strong candidates for further infrastructure investment. He points to the Government of Canada's recently announced $510 million in infrastructure funding for Alberta communities as an opportunity to build on places where demand, development, and partnerships are already established.

Rather than starting from scratch elsewhere, he argued, governments can invest alongside communities already demonstrating their capacity to accommodate growth.

A county growing — and changing

Strathcona County's population reached 107,345 in 2025, with year-over-year population growth of 2.3%. The county also recorded 770 housing starts that year. The numbers point to a larger reality: Strathcona County is growing, and the housing needed to accommodate that growth is changing with it.

For Frank, whose family has lived in Sherwood Park since 1963, balancing change with the county's identity is familiar territory. A lawyer by profession, Frank was first elected mayor in 2017. He said the fundamental responsibilities of municipal government remain remarkably consistent: Provide strong services, manage taxes responsibly, and ensure communities can accommodate growth.

"What drives me as mayor is municipal excellence — fire, safety, roads, homes, and services that respond to community needs while also managing our fiscal reality," he said.

Frank points to both Strathcona County's industrial base and its residential growth as evidence that businesses and residents continue to see the municipality as a place worth investing in.

"We have a culture of being open to business. We want to see investment here, we want investors to be successful — that's the mindset," he said. "When there is an issue, we'll get on top of it. We have programs designed to catalyze private-sector investment and housing."

That approach has included finding new ways for the public and private sectors to tackle infrastructure gaps. In some cases, developers provide capital upfront; in others, the municipality does, with costs ultimately recovered as development proceeds.

That collaborative approach has helped Strathcona County respond to changing demographics while expanding the range of homes available to residents, Frank said. "I tip my hat to the developers and homebuilders who are creating communities with a unique blend of residential, commercial, and recreation."

And while municipalities across the Edmonton metropolitan region naturally compete for investment and growth, Frank believes there is a recognition that regional success benefits everyone.

"There's no other region in the country that works so well together — when one of us does well, we all do well."

At the Hearthstone of a changing market

For Mattamy Homes, the decision to invest in Strathcona County was similarly rooted in changing demographics. Market research pointed to demand at two ends of the housing spectrum: older residents looking to downsize or age in place, and younger residents trying to enter the housing market.

"People are getting older and needing to downsize, and others are looking to buy their first home — but for both, the housing options weren't there to support that lifestyle," said Mark Bortoluzzi, vice president of land development for Mattamy Homes.

That demand helped drive Mattamy's investment in 320 acres in Hearthstone. The company is nearing the end of development on the first 160 acres, and at full buildout, the community is expected to include about 1,700 homes.

Bortoluzzi said the company has paid particular attention to how the physical design of the neighbourhood can foster a sense of community.

"We do a wide-lot product which allows for an interesting floor plan and streetscape," he said. "All of our houses — the front porches are accentuated, bringing a homey community feel. We are deliberate with our cross-section of roads, shallow utilities and, ultimately, where the home and its front porch is situated much closer to the street. This gives a much better community look and feel."

After 22 years in the development industry, Bortoluzzi said Strathcona County stands out for its willingness to collaborate with industry and enable new forms of housing. He points to work between builders, developers, and the county to permit secondary suites and broaden the range of housing available.

"The more products we can build, the more that it will help with affordability for every segment in the market," he said.

That evolution is far from finished.

Bortoluzzi expects the next phase of collaboration between municipalities and industry to focus heavily on reducing red tape, streamlining policy, and finding new financing models for infrastructure shared between the public and private sectors. Those issues will become increasingly important as Strathcona County grows and communities such as Cambrian, Hearthstone, and Bremner bring thousands of new residents to the area.

"When we first considered Sherwood Park, we didn't know how it would pan out, but we knew there was a great housing market and people wanted to live there," Bortoluzzi said. "In the end, we've seen some great partnerships."

Those partnerships, he said, have been built on something relatively simple: trust and a willingness to share risk. And perhaps that brings the story back to Kodian's definition of success.

The ultimate measure of development is not the number of lots serviced, homes constructed, or infrastructure projects completed. It is what happens afterward — when streets become neighbourhoods, houses become homes, and the infrastructure, investment, and partnerships behind them recede into the background.

What remains is life happening.