Edmonton Construction 13 (November 2015)

[EdmTrekker]

"^ encore will block this person's view of the beige CCM ".

If your a tin basher or a mechanical engineer you might like looking at those roof tops - for most people it just looks like a clusterfux.

[240glt]

^ No. There's nothing pretty or interesting about that. It's just a bunch of rooftoppers and MUA's. Boardwalk on the other hand, there's a bit of a marvel of engineering up there

Remember though, All the newspaper articles from 1974, proudly announcing that "Edmonton's downtown on the cusp of revitalization with a massive new office and retail development, right in the heart of the city"

[Calgarian]

Loving the changes up there, will be nice to see how different the feel is compared to the last time I was there.

[hilman]

https://twitter.com/uptown_one/status/880777297040519170

[hilman]

https://twitter.com/uptown_one/status/880565488551460865

[Urban recluse]

Nice!

[EdmTrekker]

Might be an interesting read: $200,000 an Acre

"Picking up from where his last book left off, Doug Kelly has published a second collection of stories about Albertans in the development industry. Kelly’s first book, $100,000 an Acre, covered events in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Much has changed since then, starting with land prices. His second book, aptly named $200,000 an Acre, examines the contemporary development landscape and new trends in an industry that had to respond to a booming population. The book relies heavily on quotations gathered during 134 interviews and profiles people in a range of development industry jobs. Subjects include builders, planners, engineers, contractors, marketers, public servants and the developing companies themselves."

http://www.dougkelly.ca/product/200000-an-acre/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbgIYEcQzQ8

http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/2017/06/...s-people-who-helped-build-neighbourhoods

[Hallsy's Toupee]

Maybe I've said this before, but every time I wander down to River Valley Road to watch Canada Day fireworks, to Remax Field to watch a ball game, or just for a bike ride, I pine for redevelopment of this area.

Every July 1 evening we see empty fields that get filled with cars and people like some kind of Edson area bush party, and thousands of people who flee immediately after the last firework c/w traffic jams because there's no reason to stay any longer. Every time there's a ballgame on at Remax, people just come and go.

Imagine this:
People watching those fireworks from riverside restaurant and cafe patios at or near the Rossdale Plant then continue on until late.
Familes strolling a nicely lit riverside promenade before and after the fireworks or ballgame c/w street performers, food trucks and vendors.
More people being able to watch the fireworks from watercraft at Rossdale docks, including the Edmonton Queen.
Those empty fields replaced with condos and duplexes from which residents can invite friends for viewing the events from their own patios or rooftop gardens.
A mid-range hotel or two that will be filled with tourists and staycationers.

A redeveloped Lower Rossdale and Rossdale Plant would not only add vibrancy to the area, but that vibrancy can lead to current and new events moving to that part of the river. There's dragon boat racing, Sourdough Raft Race and other events on the river. There's the Remax ballpark from which more events other than baseball can be programmed.

Sure, some people will hate to lose their precious field parking but that can be remedied with park & ride services at Remax Field.
The usual river valley BANANA contingent will whine, but my understanding is that this is not natural river valley land but abandoned developed land.

Make it happen, Edmonton!

[EdmTrekker]

We were at the Fireworks as well ... on the road. Your right - you have huge crowds that disperse. But by the time the fireworks ended it was somewhere around 23:22. Thats pretty late for a lot of folks especially with kids to be going out. As we walked back to the core - so were thousands of other's walking up the hills to catch LRT and buses home that were without kids. Once they got downtown it was easy enough to stop in anywhere for a nightcap and then grab public transport. If there were places in the river valley to go to, there would only be one (1) bus the number 9 that heads downtown past the future development that runs late ... and there were people lined top to catch it by the ball park. I don't see the area developing into a late night party place - as its hard to walk up hills from there and there will never be LRT there.

[EdmTrekker]

This might have been discussed but thought I would mention it in case it has not. All of the empty lots across from the Keg Strathcona front door - all the way up to the Pint & the Bee Bell Building (damn I loved those Nanaimo bars) are marked as Pending sale. I have not been around that area for long time so don't know when the pending signs were put up. Is that recent or has the pending signs been up for a while?

[Coldrsx]

Pending with Cidex, similar to the 'Brad Pitt' on Jasper and 95st.

[technomad]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Pending with Cidex, similar to the 'Brad Pitt' on Jasper and 95st.

any ETA on that one? thought they bought the site a while ago.. important gap to fill for the domino effect, but suspect it may end up like arriva down south and fly solo for a while..

Originally Posted by Hallsy's Toupee

Maybe I've said this before, but every time I wander down to River Valley Road to watch Canada Day fireworks, to Remax Field to watch a ball game, or just for a bike ride, I pine for redevelopment of this area.

...

Make it happen, Edmonton!

I get a lot of what you're saying, there's a huge amount of potential down there. but all in there's around 6 blocks worth of developable area.. with so much empty space at the top of bank core, there's really no need to take on a new development area in the near future..

but unlike all the empty lots north of 97av, the west rossdale area could be used to help improve access to the core for the whole region by terminating a freeway grade gateway drive at the foot of downtown.

It would not only help feed more people into the core, but luring that traffic away from 99/103/104/109st would be huge wins for strathcona as well.

and I'm sure once the roadworks were done, there'd be plenty of development space left to work with

[Coldrsx]

95/Jasper is clearing final pending items but is looking promising.

As for Rossdale, a river walk, patios and places to linger... that is the single most key element that this city is missing.

[technomad]

can't say I think of it as top pri.. so many things to fix in Edmonton. but the potential there is massive

I just think rossdale and other core areas will get built up a lot quicker if a robust network is put in place first

[Coldrsx]

It is or could be a biggest attraction locally and for tourist, but it is still somewhat disjointed and does not have a forks or a pearl district or a seawall. The West Rossdale plan needs to be slightly updated and implemented.

We need arts areas, a few restaurants and patios to sit and enjoy a beverage, coffee or company.


http://www.csla-aapc.ca/sites/csla-aapc.ca


http://www.dialogdesign.ca/assets/West-Rossdale-1.jpg


http://www.csla-aapc.ca/sites/csla-aapc.ca

https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/c...ale/west-rossdale-urban-design-plan.aspx

[Coldrsx]

City looking at ways to reduce Edmonton's high downtown office vacancy rates

Gordon Kent

The city is looking at taking steps to help reduce an 18 per cent downtown Edmonton office vacancy rate that might not return to a balanced level until at least 2030.

Vacancies have grown for more than two years and could reach 30 per cent by 2020, partly because the towers going up near Rogers Place will create far more space than downtown typically absorbs, according to material scheduled to be discussed Tuesday by city council’s executive committee.

Significant vacancies include the Bank of Montreal building at 10199 101 St., virtually empty aside from bank operations, and HSBC Bank Place a block north, listed as two-thirds unoccupied.

“Edmonton’s industry structure is changing, where traditional energy service-based businesses will not be the growth engine of the economy,” said a report by the Edmonton Economic Development Corp., adding that, without action, reaching a “healthy” 10 per cent overall vacancy rate will take more than 15 years.

http://edmontonjournal.com/business/comm...ntons-high-downtown-office-vacancy-rates

[EdmTrekker]

I wish the City could relocate that water treatment plant - it would be well worth spending $50M or more to gain the area for a larger water front park and museum site.

[Coldrsx]

The four primary initiatives brought forward through stakeholder engagement are as follows:
● Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Led Task Force
a. Terms of Reference to be written by Administration regarding four
office conversion case studies:
i. Social housing,
ii. Student housing,
iii. K-12 education,
iv. Assisted living;
b. Investment by the City of Edmonton in a Building Owners and Managers Association Task Force chosen project for office conversion;
● Matchmaking Website;
● Tax Deferral;
● Reduced parking requirement for Mixed Use and Live Work Space.

July 4 Exec Committee Report - Alternative uses for Office Towers

[s13]

Originally Posted by EdmTrekker

I wish the City could relocate that water treatment plant - it would be well worth spending $50M or more to gain the area for a larger water front park and museum site.

Relocating that building + utilities that aggregate at that location... It would be $Bs.

[Coldrsx]

Multiple billions.