The pent-up demand for lots in Estevan burst last week.
The long-awaited lots in Phase 2 of the Dominion Heights subdivision were put up for sale by the City of Estevan Sept. 6 and interest was high as 19 of the 24 available lots have already been snapped up.
City manager Jim Puffalt said given the recent housing crunch in Estevan, he was not surprised to see such heavy interest in the new Dominion Heights subdivision.
"We expected that," said Puffalt. "We have been working on this one (a long time). We put this out to tender over a year ago. There were lots of water issues, there is a high water table there and we had the wet condition this year.
"Unfortunately, construction-wise, when there are conditions like this, you can't go as fast as you want. Those lots should have been ready in the spring or last fall but what do when weather conditions are as they are?"
With the Dominion Heights lots almost gone already, Puffalt said the City is looking to replenish its supply in the near future. They are working with the Alberta-based Newport Developments on the Meadows of Estevan subdivision and there is hope that excavation work will begin this year.
At the same time, the City will also be developing a new subdivision of its own south of the Meadows on land near St. Joseph's Hospital.
"The lot inventory is down so we are working very closely with the developer to make sure some of that gets into the ground this year and the majority of it next year. If we get a long fall there is a chance things will go out to tender and some work can start. A lot of the work, when it's not 40 below, you can get going at it," said Puffalt who added the City plans to work on their project simultaneously.
"We want to finalize our designs and make sure they all work together and put them out for tender at the same time. There are economies of scale and you have people mobilized into the same area so our thought is that we can work together with the developer and get both projects going."
