Urbis Infill Homes is a family owned and operated company that designs and builds contemporary infill homes for homebuyers seeking a streamlined home building experience in mature Edmonton neighbourhoods.

In 2021 Urbis hired Situate as the planning consultant to conduct a zoning analysis for their property in Strathearn, and to manage the rezoning of the site to allow for a six-storey multi-unit development. 

The site had been rezoned to a direct control provision to allow a four-storey building in 2018. This was less than one year before significant amendments were made to Edmonton’s missing middle zones in 2019, to make them work better for more types of development. 

Situate determined that rezoning the site to the RA8 (medium rise apartment) zone would be optimal, based on City Plan policy which encourages higher density for the area along 95 Avenue, and the site’s proximity to the Strathearn LRT station. Zoning to allow an additional two storeys would also enable Urbis to build about 8 more units at little additional cost.

A challenging aspect of the project was that City Administration had reservations about the small setbacks allowed in the RA8 zone for sites next to low density development. Situate was able to advocate for changes to the setback regulations of the RA8 zone (under the umbrella of the Infill Development in Edmonton Association, IDEA) to garner support for the rezoning without making it difficult to develop medium scale buildings in the zone.

Situate’s rezoning application was unanimously approved by Edmonton City Council on January 25, 2022 (see Item 3.12 in the meeting minutes). As a result, Urbis will be able to construct a building that will house a variety of people looking to live in a mature neighbourhood, steps away from an LRT station.