Article content

Real estate developments can be like flowers in spring — they grab your attention with colours and pizzazz, but if the climate doesn’t co-operate they eventually fade from view.

The local economic climate has been uncertain for most of the last decade, so Edmonton hasn’t always provided fertile ground for new construction projects.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Where are they now? A look at 10 Edmonton developments Back to video

The city gave out $213 million worth of building permits in May, the latest figure available, a drop of 54 per cent from the previous May; permits were down eight per cent for the first five months of 2016 compared to the same period last year.

But there’s better news for the Edmonton region. Almost $2 billion worth of building permits were issued for the metropolitan area in the first three months of the year, up 18 per cent from the same period in 2015.

This figure continued a regional upward trend that has lasted since at least 2010, far better than the 12 per cent year-over-year decline in building permits experienced by Alberta as a whole.

Here’s an update on 10 of the projects announced in Edmonton over the past few years:

Supplied

West Block, 142 Street and Stony Plain Road

Background: The four-tower Glenora Skyline was approved by city council in 2008 over strong community opposition, but work progressed slowly before the developer ran into financial trouble with only two floors of concrete poured, leaving a prominent eyesore.