Ask pretty much any Edmontonian where downtown stops and the north side of the city begins, and you’ll hear “104th Avenue” as the answer.
It’s not true. The downtown core, at least according to City maps, goes farther north. It encapsulates most of the MacEwan University campus. It takes in the spaces north of Rogers Place, the CN Tower and the Royal Alberta museum.
The downtown rail lines were pulled out of the ground decades ago. But, even though many Edmontonians didn’t live here (or were even born) when the railway cut downtown off from the rest of the city, the psychological barrier remains. The majority of us believe that downtown ends at 104th Avenue. And belief can often be more persuasive than reality.
Mike Saunders hopes that the Station Lands will change that conversation. He’s senior vice president, Qualico Properties, which has held the former rail lands, between 97th and 101st Streets, since 1998. Qualico finished the EPCOR Tower in 2011, and, finally, the first phases of residential developments will be completed this summer.
“We feel Station Lands is the missing piece,” Saunders says. “It’s what’s needed to stitch Chinatown and the ICE District back together. 104th Avenue is a physical and psychological barrier. It’s a very wide street.”
Qualico plans to build six new towers on the land it owns, sandwiched between 104th and 105th Avenues. The first tower will have 285 units, the second will have 300. Saunders believes the buildings will help change the narrative about downtown, especially the northeast corner of the core. He loves how Rogers Place has been connected to the core by Ford Hall, which extends over 104th Avenue. But he said that, for downtown proponents like himself, breaking the notion that downtown ends at 104th has been a “major struggle.”
While Saunders says that the EPCOR Tower is almost 90 per cent leased, he has heard over and over that the building is a “half block too far north,” that it is too removed from the core — even though, by every map the City has, it is located downtown.
Saunders has met with members of the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative, the Chinese Benevolent Association and Chinatown Business Improvement Association to speak about the vision for Station Lands. On top of the residential and commercial developments, the vision includes an outdoor theatre, a green park approximately the size of Churchill Square, and a partnership with the Citadel and Winspear for small-scale performances in the neighbourhood.
“People will be able to see live performances in their backyard, and we hope that encourages them to become season-ticket holders to the likes of the Citadel and the Winspear,” says Saunders.
Qualico also plans to tie the development to the Downtown District Energy Project. A two-megawatt generator is being constructed as part of the renovation of the Winspear, and it will provide the energy needs for a number of downtown buildings. It is a project designed to curb carbon emissions and help Edmonton hit its targets to reduce 50 per cent of its greenhouse-gas emissions (based on 2005 output) by 2030.
But, for Qualico to get from the vision to reality has taken the better part of 25 years. And, just a few blocks west of Station Lands, another north-of-104 project faces delays.
The land that’s eventually to become the Village at ICE District is currently a gravel parking lot. The Oilers Entertainment Group and the Katz Group of Companies state that the plan is to make this area the next phase of the ICE District, which already includes restaurants, the JW Marriott, the SKY Signature Suites and, of course, Rogers Place. The Village calls for 2,500 more residences to be built, along with commercial spaces. But in March, OEG approached council looking for it to extend the life of the gravel parking lot to the end of 2028. The reason? The market conditions aren’t yet right for the development. There are public safety issues. And the existing, antiquated underground infrastructure — the sewer lines and electrical lines — cannot handle a development that would bring in thousands of new residents.
“While we understand that temporary parking is not the highest and best use, these lots provide an important interim solution to parking needs in the area,” said Tim Shipton, OEG’s executive vice president of external affairs and gaming. Shipton handles government relations for OEG. “The request for a five-year extension will provide OEG and the real estate group the time needed to continue its due diligence work, to secure the needed partnerships to develop, while also allowing for market conditions to improve.
“We will develop those lands, but, at the end of the day, we do need more time to do it right.”’
We have two major projects that promise to change how we see downtown north of 104th. One is finally beginning to realize its promise; the other is still only a promise. But both prove that developing in a spot Edmontonians have traditionally seen as dead space is a challenge.
This article appears in the May 2024 issue of Edify
