Work officially begins in Regina’s long-awaited Coopertown neighbourhood

A ground-breaking ceremony was held in Northwest Regina for the long-awaited Coopertown neighbourhood. Wayne Mantyka has more.

Coopertown has been a long time coming. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday for the long-awaited neighbourhood in northwest Regina.

The three sections of farmland will become home to 36,000 residents over the next three decades.

“We had a sign on here that sort of said coming soon that kind of faded,” Jason Carlston, the president of Dream Homes, told CTV News.

The 1,800-acre subdivision will become home to 36,000 residents over the next three decades.

“Single family homes in the $500,000 to $550,000 range. That would be for a front attached single family home. Townhomes might be below $400,000,” Carlston explained.

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Coopertown was first proposed a decade ago, but a costly lift station was required for housing expansion in northwest regina. Last year, city council approved the $66 million investment which will now be recovered through development fees.

“[Its] incredibly important that we move forward on this,” Mayor Chad Bachynksi told reporters. “We have seen a decline in our housing stock – so we need to get houses built.”

The concept of a housing development at Courtney Street and 9th Ave North actually goes back to the 1970s when the then NDP government purchased the property.

Back then, the province acted as a land developer to lower housing costs. The provincial land was declared surplus in 2013 and sold to Dream Homes.

The subdivision Coopertown is named after the company’s president, Michael Cooper.

“I had absolutely nothing to do with it. I think our team when dealing with the city came up with the name and told me about it later,” Cooper explained. “It has already been 15 years since they did that, so I think we are all just used to it.”

Work will begin immediately with the first residents to move into the new neighbourhood in 2027.

The developer estimates that it will take thirty years to fully develop Coopertown but that it could take less.

The last major new subdivision, Harbour Landing, was supposed to take 20 years – but sold out in just eight.