Urban Development Institute Withstanding the Downturn

UDI finding creative & new ways to withstand – and overcome economic downturn in Cold Lake

The Urban Development Institute (UDI) is the local collective voice for your builders, developers, and anyone related to that industry; such as real estate agents. Of course the big challenge that the UDI is facing is the hard hit of the oil industry and its affects on the local real estate and development market. Coming up with creative ways to overcome these challenges is one of the key roles of Allison Horner and the UDI board in Cold Lake.

The UDI is going into its tenth year in Cold Lake, explains Horner,  “we have members from tradespeople to home builders to land developers. You’re always stronger as a big voice, rather than just one. We work really closely with the municipalities and forming relationships. We tackle day-to-day issues that would come about in the building and development industry.” Members are asked to be proactive and informed with local policies, bylaws, rules and regulations that may affect growth.  “The Development Agreement was a big one that we worked on with the municipality. From the developer’s perspective, to be able to go through the agreement, and explain how it affects us and find common ground. We have ended up saving builders and developers lots of hassle and money.”

One of the most exciting new ways the UDI is encouraging growth and the real estate market is through the Parade of Homes. Last spring developers, builders, and agents worked together to showcase all the homes and developments available. “Last year was our first one,” explains Horner, “with the economic downturn we wanted to find a way to service our members. What better way to get the community out in a positive way.” The Parade of Homes created a fun, contest-style environment that encouraged people to go out and look at real estate. “We ended up getting an average of 250 people through our eleven showhomes. Which was phenomenal!” There were four sales during the Parade of Homes and another two in the months to following. The Parade of Homes will return in the spring of 2017.

“It’s basically a collective voice; if our builders or developers are having questions or need help, then together we can tackle it. Because we’ve formed that relationship with the municipalities, it’s a lot easier to work together.”

On October 19th, the Urban Development Institute will be meeting for their quarterly meeting at 9:30 am at the Lakeland Inn in Cold Lake. At the meeting statistics on the real estate and development insdustry in Cold Lake will be available. For more information on the UDI Cold Lake Chapter contact Allison Horner at 780-201-7706