Conservative approach taken in new report on City Centre Airport

Developing the City Centre Airport site in downtown Edmonton won't be as lucrative as first estimated, according to areport released Thursday.

The report advocates a more conservative plan for development of the 217-hectare property, if the airport were closed, suggesting 24,300 people could move into the area as residential properties are built over 23 to 28 years.

Commercial development, the expansion ofNorthern Alberta Institute of Technologysouth of 118 Avenue, and expansion of light-rail transit would also be part of this development, the report states.

The city would get at least $91 million from the sale of the land under the demonstration plan provided in the report, and take in $17.5 million annually in property taxes. That's a significant change from initial estimates a year ago that estimated the city could make $486 million from land sales, and $68 million annually in property taxes.

"I think people recognize the economy's changed and you move from a time when development activity is high, land values are high ... in a short year you find opportunities are different," Harvey Crone, project manager for the city, said Thursday.

The closure of the City Centre Airport, and this latest report, will be discussed at public hearings before council's executive committee beginning next Wednesday.