Edmonton Construction 9 (2008-08)

[Tower Crane]

Watch for the following project announcements:

Federal Building

Nait Campus

Edmonton Eskimos Field House & Complex

[Coldrsx]

Nait hey...

Cant wait for work on the fed to begin

great to have some more athletic facilities in central edm

[itom 987]

Originally Posted by Tower Crane

Nait Campus

I hope it isn't about the proposed Ralph Klein Campus.

[rapid_business]

/\ Yeah, I thought that was on a long-term hold....

[Coldrsx]

I dont think it is a south campus, but rather current site expansion...

[Coldrsx]

Camsell housing development OK'd

Low-, highrise homes to fill former hospital site

BY GORDON KENTDECEMBER 16, 2008


Following more than three years of planning and community debate, city council gave the green light Monday to a major new housing development on the former Charles Camsell Hospital site.

Architect Gene Dub won unanimous approval for a plan to create 594 condominiums, row houses and single- detached homes on the 4.7-hectare Inglewood property, including five per cent affordable housing.

"I think this would be very positive for the neighbourhood," he said following a public hearing.

"It's a beautiful neighbourhood, but it's slowly getting a little ragged around the edges, and it just needs a little something to rejuvenate it." The design will see low-rise apartments and individual houses around the perimeter to act as a buffer for the rest of the area, with buildings up to nine storeys high in the middle and approximately 800 underground parking stalls.

None of the new structures will be taller than the old hospital, which closed in 1996 and was sold to Dub and several partners for $3.6 million in 2004.

A 0.4-hectare park is slated for the northeast corner of the property, located near 115th Avenue and 127th Street.

The developers initially proposed putting 862 housing units at the Camsell, but withdrew the scheme after nearby residents objected that so many extra neighbours would create traffic and parking and other problems.

The project is expected to become home to about 1,500 people, but Dub said the softening condominium market might lead them to use part of the space for a seniors' continuing-care facility instead.

"It's still a financially feasible project. I say that based on the market as it stands. I'm not sure where it will be six months from now." This change would have to be discussed with the community before it went ahead, he said.

People living nearby have been unhappy with the time it has taken to redevelop the empty hospital, which caught fire during demolition work in 2006 and has been seen as a draw for vagrants.

Asbestos removal and other demolition inside the 1960s-era building has already cost more than $1 million, and developers will probably spend another $2 million before the work is completed next summer, Dub said.

They plan to convert the Camsell to 230 units of condos or rental suites, he said, adding the entire project will probably start in 2009 and take two to four years to complete.

While Charles Cousineau, a director of the Inglewood Community League, said parking and traffic continue to be issues, a push to have the hospital redeveloped before construction goes ahead on the rest of the site has now been included in the zoning bylaw approved by council.

"It's very easy to go out to the peripheral area and build all those other buildings, and leave the eyesore," he told the hearing.

"Our desire is to see the hospital building redone or blown up in some manner." A mural from the Camsell will be retained to commemorate the hospital's history as a federal facility to treat aboriginal people with tuberculosis and other diseases.

[email protected]

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Camsell+housing+development/1079634/story.html

[tallisgood]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

but withdrew the scheme after nearby residents objected that so many extra neighbours would create traffic and parking and other problems.

People living nearby have been unhappy with the time it has taken to redevelop the empty hospital, which caught fire during demolition work in 2006 and has been seen as a draw for vagrants.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Camsell+housing+development/1079634/story.html

Hmmmmmmmmmmm... go figure...

[Xelebes]

I bet they prefer a nice big grass field.


Or a parking lot.

[Hardhatdan]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

I dont think it is a south campus, but rather current site expansion...

It is.

[240glt]

Office sublet space growing in economic downturn

EDMONTON — Canada’s office markets are starting to feel the effects of an economic slowdown, says a new report by CB Richard Ellis.

A spike in the amount of sublet space in two leading Canadian office markets is a harbinger of what to expect in most other markets in 2009, including Edmonton, said the commercial real estate company’s year-end report.

The sublet market is growing because companies who have leased too much space for their needs offer it to other tenants, the report said.

Vancouver’s sublet market rose to 43.7 per cent at the end of 2008 from 15.2 per cent in the third quarter of the year.

Calgary’s sublet market increased to 33.1 per cent from 26.6 per cent.

“A larger than normal increase in the amount of sublet space on the market, particularly in a short time, is a warning that the economy is under stress,” said John O’Bryan, CB Richard Ellis vice-chairman.

In Edmonton, David Young, senior vice-president and managing director of the company, predicted a greater increase in sublet space in the suburban office market where engineering and construction companies are concentrated as opposed to the downtown core.

“With the slowdown in the oil and gas markets, some groups could look to shed space taken specifically for the construction of the new megaprojects,” Young said.

In recent months, energy companies have delayed or cancelled billions of dollars of Alberta oilsands megaprojects.

Downtown office space in Edmonton rose slightly to 5.5 per cent in the fourth quarter from 5.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2008.

Vancouver increased to 3.1 per cent from 2.3; Calgary rose to 5.2 per cent from 4.1; Winnipeg increased to 5.9 per cent from 5.5, Toronto nudged up a fraction of a percentage point to 4.9 per cent and London went to 14.8 per cent from 14.5.

Downtown office vacancy rates fell in the Waterloo region, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Office+sublet+space+growing+economic+downturn/1082079/story.html

I wonder how Edmonton's downtown office space will fare. Obviously we don't have a huge glut of space coming on the market like other centres do.

[TimB09]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

I dont think it is a south campus, but rather current site expansion...

I wonder if they're finally going to build the new business building they were talking about when I went to school there? I hope so.

[basilbrush]

I think it might be the 2nd floor addition to the main campus.

[Hardhatdan]

Originally Posted by basilbrush

I think it might be the 2nd floor addition to the main campus.

Its a new building.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by TimB09

I wonder if they're finally going to build the new business building they were talking about when I went to school there? I hope so.

That was scratched this spring. There were no commitments of funding from the provincial government.

[TimB09]

Originally Posted by Xelebes

That was scratched this spring. There were no commitments of funding from the provincial government.

That's a shame.

Have there been any renderings released for the Eskimos fieldhouse?

[240glt]

City of Edmonton wins public-sector leadership award

EDMONTON — Edmonton has won a national public sector leadership award for its ground-breaking program to assess and manage $33-billion worth of roads, sewers, bridges, LRT lines and other infrastructure.

The silver medal from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, to be handed out at Wednesday’s city council meeting, recognizes their “innovative approach to asset management,” Konrad Siu, director of the office of infrastructure and funding strategy, said Tuesday.

Edmonton created what’s believed to be the country’s first infrastructure office in 2000, a time when few people were even talking about the subject, Siu said.

They started by figuring out the value, age and condition of the city’s assets, then created a standard way of comparing the state of different structures such as roads and buildings, to determine where upgrades are most needed, he said.

They work closely with volunteer advisers from the external Infrastructure Technical Advisory Committee.

Another important part of the process is doing a risk assessment to determine the problems created by not putting money into repairs, he said.

For example, while a bridge and an alley might both need work, a crumbling alley is a minor inconvenience compared to the danger of a collapsed bridge.

This assessment allows the city to set up long-term priorities, Siu said.

The system has been so successful it has been studied by officials from such organizations as the Institute of Public Works Engineering in Australia and the U.S. Federal Highway Administration

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/City+Edmonton+wins+public+sector+leadership+award/1083040/story.html

[Kevin_foster]

St. Albert:

Anyone know the status of Amacons St. Albert Village? (for reference: www.stalbertvillage.com)

Also, there is a small tower crane in St. Albert approximately 2km North on the trail on the West Site. Beside the breakfast/rib place... it looks like it could be set up for a 5/6 story building..

[CMD UW]

FYI - The Bellamy DC2 was pulled from yesterdays Public Hearing. Apparently the Planning Department made an error on the advertising.

[Shodan]

Twin tower plan reaches for optimism
Developers' dream of downtown skyscrapers has a long way to go during this economic downturn

Scott McKeen
The Edmonton Journal

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Out of the gloom and doom of economic uncertainty emerges a $200-million proposal to build twin skyscrapers downtown, the tallest reaching 50 storeys.

Urbia Development's design proposal for 104th Street is of a magnitude and height unforeseen in any civic plan, largely because of restrictions imposed by the flight paths in and out of the City Centre Airport. That alone gives reason for skepticism about the project. Combine that with all the dire economic news of late and it's easy to view the glass-and-steel skyscrapers as little more than architectural pie in the sky.

But Urbia's management, as well as its architect, Brad Kennedy, are adamant the 400-unit project will go ahead on downtown's coolest stroll, 104th Street, across the street from the old Boardwalk.

Urbia's Dean Parmar says he and his partners think the economy will recover late next year, even before they begin pre-selling condos. They've got considerable work to do before then, including preparing a rezoning application to city council. The proposal will be officially unveiled at a 7 p.m. public meeting tonight in the Vintage Room of the Sutton Place Hotel, 10235 101st St.

"We are very serious or we wouldn't have poured all this money into it," said Parmar, in reference to the firm hiring a cadre of planners, architects and consultants to prepare the rezoning application. He insists Urbia has no secret agenda, such as up-zoning the land for profit. Those things do happen. If a proponent convinces a municipal council to redesignate a parcel of land from low- to high-density development, the property increases several times in value.

"We're not into flipping -- we're not a flipping business," said Parmar, who sat down with me Tuesday, along with his partners Sami Mohammed and Sundeep Cheema. "We bought the land to develop it. If we were like that, we'd have flipped our site in Victoria."

The Edmonton-based Urbia has a major condo underway on Vancouver Island, as well as smaller developments in Leduc and Spruce Grove.

This is actually the second design for the 104th St. project, known to date as Urbia Towers. The first design, when it was featured in The Journal a year or so ago, was cut to ribbons by armchair architects on Internet forums.

Urbia Developments shrugged off the controversy then, saying the early drawings weren't the final drawings. It then hired Brad Kennedy, who says he was thrilled with the challenge and latitude given him by Urbia. They didn't want an upturned box with balconies.

"We were excited that the client would play," said Kennedy, adding there was an immediate buzz around the firm, Brinsmead Kennedy Architecture. "We said, 'Let's do something defined this way: Would you write home about it, or would you send a postcard with this on it?' "

So the architects played, especially with curtains of curving glass at the tower tops. Kennedy searched for the right words to describe the 50-storey building's distinctive crown. He talked to his staff. They came up with this: "The slender elliptical tower culminates in a sheared crystal flute."

Whatever you call it, the overall design is unlike anything in this neck of the woods. It truly would give Edmonton an iconic skyscraper. Kennedy added that the project's podium will also be unique, contextual to the area and also work with the burgeoning farmers market on the street.

The city's existing downtown plan only envisions buildings of 35 storeys, due to safety concerns for flights in and out of the old Muni airport. But Kennedy says he talked to the local airports authority, as well as federal aviation officials, and received their blessing.

As for the moribund economy, well, Kennedy says he's still working with a number of developers on a score of downtown condo designs. They all see the good times returning.

Urbia, meanwhile, vows that the towers on 104th will be affordable. Perhaps not the glass penthouses at the top. But the lower condos will be priced to sell, they say.

"There will be nothing like it in Edmonton," said Parma. "This will be the new downtown."

Should we hold our breath? Will these skyscrapers ever reach the sky? I'm not a developer nor an economist.

I suppose I'm satisfied today to give the men of Urbia Development and its architect, Brad Kennedy, my gratitude for dreaming big dreams.

We are in dire need of such people today -- people who inspire us to think of better tomorrows.

[email protected]
© The Edmonton Journal 2008

Copyright © 2008 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.

http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=91c15b69-b7f6-4286-913d-fdd1c9d3dda1&sponsor=

[Shodan]

Sublet space growing
Increased efforts to unload surplus office space 'warning of economy under stress'

Bill Mah
Canwest News Service

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Canada's office markets are starting to feel the effects of an economic slowdown, says a new report by CB Richard Ellis.

A spike in the amount of downtown sublet space in two leading Canadian office markets is a harbinger of what to expect in most other markets in 2009, including Edmonton, said the commercial real estate company's year-end report released Tuesday.

The sublet market is growing because companies that have leased too much space for their needs offer it to other tenants, the report said.

Vancouver's downtown sublet market rose to 43.7 per cent at the end of 2008 from 15.2 per cent in the third quarter of the year.

Calgary's downtown sublet market increased to 33.1 per cent from 26.6 per cent.

"A larger than normal increase in the amount of sublet space on the market, particularly in a short time, is a warning that the economy is under stress," said John O'Bryan, CB Richard Ellis vice-chairman.

"It should also be kept in mind that when the economy is in a downturn there is a lag effect, as employees aren't let go immediately. Even when companies downsize, it doesn't immediately translate into sublet space. First it becomes shadow space (available for sublet) and then turns into sublets if the downturn persists."

In Edmonton, David Young, senior vice-president and managing director of the company, predicted a greater increase in sublet space in the suburban office market where engineering and construction companies are concentrated as opposed to the downtown core.

"With the slowdown in the oil and gas markets, some groups could look to shed space taken specifically for the construction of the new megaprojects," Young said. "These companies may witness a reduction in their office space requirements as their businesses slow due to lower oil prices and the softening of the general economy."

Edmonton's suburban sublet market more than doubled to 11.5 per cent in the fourth quarter from 5.1 per cent in the third quarter.

In recent months, energy companies have delayed or cancelled billions of dollars of Alberta oilsands megaprojects. A souring economy will affect each region's office market differently, said O'Bryan.

"There are growing indications that it will be impossible for any area to escape the downturn," he said. The two markets likely to see the biggest increases in available space are downtown Calgary and Toronto, he added.

"Both markets are seeing substantial office building construction which will be delivered in the period of 2009 to 2012. The overhang of space will require a revitalized economy to bring the markets back into balance."

On a positive note, he said it is fortunate that most Canadian cities are entering the downturn with some of the lowest vacancy rates in their history.

Downtown office space in Edmonton rose slightly to 5.5 per cent in the fourth quarter from 5.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2008.

Suburban office space in Edmonton nudged down to 4.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, compared to 4.5 per cent in the third quarter.

[email protected]
© The Edmonton Journal 2008

Copyright © 2008 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.

http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=fe3300e9-7b42-401c-b836-ccc9f175b05e&sponsor=