GRIESBACH Homes For Sale-Northwest Edmonton

GRIESBACH is located in north Edmonton and is bounded by 153rd Avenue to the north, 97th Street to the east, 137th Avenue to the south, and Castle Downs Road to the west. The Griesbach site was originally developed in the 1950s as a Canadian Forces Base, and was lived in by military personnel and their families.

In the mid-1990s, the Canadian Forces decided to consolidate several army bases, including Griesbach. The large site, with existing infrastructure connections, and close proximity to downtown provided an excellent opportunity to undertake a large scale redevelopment project and the area was transferred to the Canada Lands Company to redevelop as a non-military residential neighbourhood. The focus for Griesbach’s redevelopment was to create a community that integrated existing tree stands and vegetation, reflected the area’s military history, and provided for a mix of uses and housing types.

A Plan for the new Griesbach neighbourhood was approved in 2002, and development began soon after and is still continuing. The Griesbach neighbourhood has a mix of single-detached, semi-detached, row housing, and apartment buildings. It was also one of the first neighbourhoods in Edmonton to allow for garage suites and reverse housing. The internal roadway network focuses on a large central community park, and a new waterway and pathway system provide additional recreation areas. A commercial village centre is located in the southeast corner, a senior’s residence in located in the northwest. Street names and park names reflect Griesbach’s military past.

Griesbach takes its name from Major General William Antrobus Griesbach (1878-1945) who was a veteran of the Boer War and WWI, a practicing lawyer and Edmonton’s youngest mayor in 1907. Major General Griesbach also served as a member of parliament from 1917 to 1921, and was named to the Canadian senate in 1921 where he was commissioned as a major general in recognition of his war service.