Manulife Place Renovations | 145.99m | 36s | AIMCo | MdeAS

What do you think of this project?

  • Total voters
    27
^^^^ The ICE District will have a huge impact -- it will just take a couple of years to mature. An example to follow can be found in Los Angeles' Staple Center environ where it was a bit of a development desert for a few years after it was built and then... and then it became the centre for all downtown construction in Los Angeles, literally booming! Downtown Edmonton is ripe for Retail/Hospitality experimentation and when that happens... and when that happens... well lets just say your entire focus for Edmonton is on the present and the past; your crystal ball is very clouded and doesn't allow you to see what is coming.
 
I'm going to disagree with you there... for even if ICE D2.0 was built out, we would still have very limited actual retail.
 
IanO said:
I'm going to disagree with you there... for even if ICE D2.0 was built out, we would still have very limited actual retail.
Click to expand...
You seem rather certain of that given Katz/ONE have only provided a preliminary plan sufficient for zoning. Plans change even in the built form when opportunity knocks as we can see from the Henry Single announcement. We simply don't know what the future holds for ICE 2 or even if there will be an ICE 2 by Katz/ONE ... until we have some certainty.
 
  • Like
Reactions: God
^^^^ Wrong 'O! There is a powerful correlation between Retail and Entertainment -- WEM is an excellent example of that -- and we are already seeing the development of additional entertainment venues in and around the ICE district. To be certain there will be starts and subsequent failures, but the trend line will underscore new development in the Retail realm. I understand that you can't see that considering your pronounced negative view on all things "Edmonton"... time will tell who is right (ahem... ME) and who is wrong (psst... YOU).
 
  • Like
Reactions: God
IanO said:
Here's hoping for Downtown Edmonton has nowhere to go but up and the least impressive offering of any city over 100,000.

Downtown Lethbridge had more offerings.

It's embarrassing.
Click to expand...
To take it even closer to home, I happened to be looking at downtown Red Deer on street view yesterday. I think there is more retail on Gaetz Ave downtown there than on Jasper Ave.

I think what they (and other places) have downtown are small unique stores that serve the local market. We keep on forgetting that people also actually live downtown and nearby. These people are not being well served by being forced to drive to often distant malls or power centres for almost everything.
 
archited said:
^^^^ Wrong 'O! There is a powerful correlation between Retail and Entertainment -- WEM is an excellent example of that -- and we are already seeing the development of additional entertainment venues in and around the ICE district. To be certain there will be starts and subsequent failures, but the trend line will underscore new development in the Retail realm. I understand that you can't see that considering your pronounced negative view on all things "Edmonton"... time will tell who is right (ahem... ME) and who is wrong (psst... YOU).
Click to expand...

Sure, but density and alternatives are equally important.

Reality is a bitch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: God
IanO said:
Sure, but density and alternatives are equally important.

Reality is a bitch.
Click to expand...
Yes, but people are not going to be enticed to live downtown by empty store fronts and struggling malls either. All these things need to work together.

More density is arguably better, but there is no magic number of people or threshold where our problems will be solved. I doubt downtown Red Deer has a large population, but yet they seem to have quite a few retail stores there.
 
One of Edmonton's fatal, almost universally agreed upon flaws, continues to be complacency and a lack of awareness compared to other cities, marketplaces, jurisdictions.

I'm not sure it ever really looks in the mirror or wants to accept constructive criticism.

*awaits the classic - 'why don't you do what you just wrote'

Manulife Place's fall from grace and the overall state of the Downtown (pre and post COVID) is a good example of this.
 
Need I remind you that all downtowns from a retail perspective are getting hammered. That said, your obvious distain for Edmonton continually shows through.
 
  • Like
Reactions: God
Actually, tough love and well aware of that, but very few if any cities (especially in Canada) have such dismal offerings in the cores.

But hey, others have issues too SO IT'S OK!
 
NO IT'S NOT... but you might try framing a little constructive criticism instead of your continual blitzkrieg.
 
  • Like
Reactions: God
David A said:
To take it even closer to home, I happened to be looking at downtown Red Deer on street view yesterday. I think there is more retail on Gaetz Ave downtown there than on Jasper Ave.

I think what they (and other places) have downtown are small unique stores that serve the local market. We keep on forgetting that people also actually live downtown and nearby. These people are not being well served by being forced to drive to often distant malls or power centres for almost everything.
Click to expand...
However most people don't live downtown and probably don't want to be forced to drive downtown for such amenities. Traffic and parking are always more difficult downtown than other parts of the city.

In the past it was necessary to have downtowns to serve an entire city with unique experiences and retail. That may no longer be the case.
 
How many people here have actually been downtown lately and ventured beyond the Ice District? There are a LOT of empty podiums, specifically in places that just before the pandemic were bustling.

Being the realist that I am, Simons is a pipe dream for downtown Edmonton if they are struggling in Calgary that has at least double the downtown population of Edmonton, if not more. I think Henry Singer will do well in Ice District. More exposure will do them well. A ton of people don't even know they have a store in Manulife. Hit up a hockey game and drop a bunch of cash on a new pair of jeans or buy a suit if that is what you're after. Simons would have to be closer to ID to effectively catch those crowds. People don't venture very far for offerings if they aren't unique. Simons isn't unique to Edmonton.

Yes, Calgary downtown has some other options, Harry Rosen, BB, etc that compete with some of Simons offerings. However, so does Edmonton with HS, the Helm, and a few other shops.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top