Edmonton Construction 12 (December 2013) - Page 491

Hallsy's Toupee · #**9801** Posted **Oct 17, 2015, 3:15 AM**

Encore!

Sales start for Edmonton's tallest condo-only tower
http://edmontonjournal.com/business/comm...t-for-edmontons-tallest-condo-only-tower

Quote:

Launching sales for a $100-million, 40-storey condominium highrise in Edmonton during an economic downturn and a downtown residential building boom isn’t as risky as it sounds, says Richie Lam.

In fact, the co-CEO of Westrich Pacific Corp. expects a crowd of potential buyers when the development company opens sales Saturday for Encore Tower, planned for the corner of 103rd Street and 102nd Avenue.

He says Encore sales could outperform the pace set in a more upbeat economy by 32-storey Ultima, another Westrich luxury tower scheduled to open a year from now and 98-per-cent sold.

Lam wasn’t as optimistic five months ago. “We were almost going to put this on hold because we weren’t sure,” Lam said.

After a year’s delay for design work and focus on other projects, the company even discussed simplifying Encore’s cross-shaped floorplate into something more boxy, but ended up sticking with the original concept and marketing plan.

“The response so far has been overwhelming,” Lam said. “For Ultima, we reserved $50 million in condos in one day and took two to three weeks to close them all up. It’s looking like it’s going to be stronger than Ultima. We have close to 1,350 people that registered on our website. Ultima, we had only 800.”

Quote:

“A few people that have called us for Encore say they live in St. Albert or Sherwood Park or the southwest area and looking to buy a place downtown where they can see a concert instead of driving back and forth.”

Construction is expected to start next fall.

Quote:

The “all-glass” building will hold 164 two-bedroom, two-bath units and a three-storey lobby entrance with a waterfall feature. The fourth floor will have a sun lounge with Las Vegas-style cabanas and a wading pool, the company says. There will be five levels of underground parking. Units start at $359,000.

hilman · #**9802** Posted **Oct 17, 2015, 3:16 AM**

Good stuff, this will be an amazing building, the Ultima is a stunner.

Hallsy's Toupee · #**9803** Posted **Oct 17, 2015, 3:20 PM**

Century-old building in downtown Edmonton destroyed by fire
http://globalnews.ca/news/2282694/century-old-building-in-downtown-edmonton-destroyed-by-fire/

Quote:

EDMONTON – Leamington Mansions was built in 1914 and early Saturday morning, it went up in flames.

Around 4 a.m., crews were called to the building at Jasper Avenue and 114 Street.

Flames could be seen engulfing the old building, which was unoccupied at the time.

Witnesses said you could feel the heat radiating from the fire. Smoke billowed from the site for blocks.

Gas power was disconnected and a building to the north was evacuated.

Fire crews were challenged by walls that were falling down and they had to attack the blaze from the outside.

A crew of approximately 50 fire fighters was able to contain the fire and was still on scene at 8:45 a.m.

There are currently no reports of injuries.

EdmTrekker · #**9804** Posted **Oct 17, 2015, 4:45 PM**

I thought the building was almost ready to be reopened? Or was it just sitting empty?

Black Star · #**9805** Posted **Oct 17, 2015, 5:38 PM**

What the!!!! It was a beautiful building. Kind of odd for this to happen on the 10th anniversary of the Arlington Fire!

Airboy · #**9806** Posted **Oct 17, 2015, 6:23 PM**

There seemed to be lot of work still going on. I saw some guys on the roof Thursday.

mcc16 · #**9807** Posted **Oct 18, 2015, 4:59 AM**

please say federal building plaza will still be used as a skating rink? Zamboni or not, the location is awesome for skating rink... And lockers and benches are already there... Just flood the damn thing every night... No need for zamboni.

Because of our little building boom, I think I'm getting a bit spoiled... Now whenever I walk past an empty lot I think, 🞵🞵🞵, I wonder why there's nothing going here yet... Lol either than Boston pizza area, the next waste land ripe for redevelopment is huge lot behind omega/Starbucks. This current one month stint in Edmonton has me living near, and walking by this area everyday... if/when this area is developed I hope they put some thought into the lane as well... It seems like such a waste that all are lane ways are just pothole riddled uneven troughs... Considering the limited vehicular traffic (as compared to adjacent roadways) why not design our alleys to be inviting pedestrian zones with vehicular traffic being a secondary use...?

s211 · #**9808** Posted **Oct 18, 2015, 5:17 PM**

You want wasteland? I was driving through Edmonton a few weeks ago and that Edmonton Motors auto dealership on Jasper Avenue is a soul-sucker. They've even expanded onto a parking lot on the north side of the street. Nothing says vibrancy like two full blocks of pick-up trucks for sale on one side of the street, and now another vehicle storage lot on the other side.

The city must have little to no interest or hope in ever turning that area into something of substance.

Sorry, I haven't had my morning coffee yet; that must be it.

Hallsy's Toupee · #**9809** Posted **Oct 18, 2015, 5:35 PM**

^ A worse dead zone would be the 3 blocks of Wheaton dealerships on Whyte. But that said, what do you expect the city to do about it?

Coldrsx · #**9810** Posted **Oct 18, 2015, 7:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hallsy's Toupee

Century-old building in downtown Edmonton destroyed by fire
http://globalnews.ca/news/2282694/century-old-building-in-downtown-edmonton-destroyed-by-fire/

Arson?

Harrison · #**9811** Posted **Oct 19, 2015, 12:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Arson?

Sure hope not. Just heartbreaking, it was in the middle of restoration and then this happens. What little built heritage Edmonton has left just keeps disappearing

Coldrsx · #**9812** Posted **Oct 19, 2015, 1:22 AM**

The only way to remove heritage designation is by fire. Hope not, but suspicious.

Hallsy's Toupee · #**9813** Posted **Oct 19, 2015, 2:19 AM**

Owner of Leamington Mansion says building's destruction one of his 'saddest days'
http://www.metronews.ca/news/edmonton/20...mington-mansion-devasted-after-fire.html

To those of you in the know, how is Bob Dhillon's reputation in this city?

s211 · #**9814** Posted **Oct 19, 2015, 3:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hallsy's Toupee

^ A worse dead zone would be the 3 blocks of Wheaton dealerships on Whyte. But that said, what do you expect the city to do about it?

Moralsuasion? "You could make a fortune selling your urban core sites, and get a much cheaper site elsewhere."

Coldrsx · #**9815** Posted **Oct 19, 2015, 4:03 PM**

VIA/Greyhound, by SDM on C2E

Job No 179716658-002
Description: To construct an addition to an existing Train Station and to operate a Fleet Service Use. (Greyhound)
Location: 12304 - 121 STREET NW
Plan 1497HW Blk 4
101 - AIRPORT ROAD NW
Plan 9220135 Blk 6A Lot 2
Applicant: DIALOG
Status: More Information Required/Requested
Create Date: 10/16/2015 12:53:28 PM

Black Star · #**9816** Posted **Oct 19, 2015, 4:32 PM**

Great idea.

Has there been any official announcement by Greyhound.

vaportrail · #**9817** Posted **Oct 19, 2015, 4:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by s211

You want wasteland? I was driving through Edmonton a few weeks ago and that Edmonton Motors auto dealership on Jasper Avenue is a soul-sucker. They've even expanded onto a parking lot on the north side of the street. Nothing says vibrancy like two full blocks of pick-up trucks for sale on one side of the street, and now another vehicle storage lot on the other side.

The city must have little to no interest or hope in ever turning that area into something of substance.

Sorry, I haven't had my morning coffee yet; that must be it.

Take heart. Their days at that location are numbered.

Coldrsx · #**9818** Posted **Oct 19, 2015, 4:52 PM**

^oh? Large mixed use?

Village at Westmount, although the high-rise looks a wee bit different now.

http://www.parioplan.com

vaportrail · #**9819** Posted **Oct 19, 2015, 5:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^oh? Large mixed use?

I've stated all there is to know at this point.

Airboy · #**9820** Posted **Oct 19, 2015, 5:32 PM**

Wonder if Westmount Village is still going ahead. They just renoed the building on the south west side of the complex.