The land transfer for Willow Square is still on hold from the province, waiting for an approved plan to be submitted. The RMWB council voted last week to have the Wood Buffalo Housing and Development Corporation prepare a report covering the time and cost considerations on 5 different possible options for the location. Alberta seniors ministry communications director Jessica Lucenko said “It’s really a matter of the municipality and the community taking a look at what they need, being in the best position to determine and respect those needs. We’re going to wait to transfer the land until we have an approved plan submitted.” This could delay the time required to make the development a reality, and in the meantime seniors are still facing housing shortages.

The land transfer delay for the Willow Square development is seen as another opportunity to get things right the first time. WBHD proposes a community campus setting, which offers senior and affordable housing, retail and office space, and market housing. Advocates say that this type of development makes the most sense economically. Others including Mayor Melissa Blake were hoping for an Aging in Place facility instead of the broader spectrum development. Mayor Blake commented “I knew that it wasn’t going to be economic enough to do it all on its own, independently, but the devastation is that I thought that we’d have capacity for two facilities and a range of services that would be different on the downtown site than the one on the hill.”