Edmonton City Centre Mall (Renovations) | ?m | 2s | LaSalle Investment Management

[David A]

Maybe it is because we are more isolated, but many seem to think these social order and safety problems are some sort unique Edmonton thing. They are not.

Here is an article about Toronto and Vancouver. Btw, some serious problems in Toronto this week.

Opinion: Random acts of violence? Better get used to it

Sadly, the best advice for many, in Vancouver, Toronto, or elsewhere, is simply: be on your guard

www.theglobeandmail.com

What is unique to us is our ongoing neglect of our downtown, giving into fear and using social order as an excuse for our failures.

 

[CaptainBL]

What is unique to us is our ongoing neglect of our downtown, giving into fear and using social order as an excuse for our failures.

Bingo.

Every downtown is going through social disorder right now in one way or another. Not every downtown is going through neglect of basics and poor decisions that are hurting the livability and attraction of downtown.

 

[TAS]

They've already released a downtown Calgary revitalization plan. It is clear they're focusing their political efforts on their weak areas to ensure they don't remain a handful of MLAs. I can't blame them for that.

We have different expectations then of our representatives.
Certainly fine to have a YYC plan but to say we don't have resources to do same for YEG when we have elected them - no way.

 

[northlands]

Bingo.

Every downtown is going through social disorder right now in one way or another. Not every downtown is going through neglect of basics and poor decisions that are hurting the livability and attraction of downtown.

It is bizarre how few resources are seemingly allocated by the City for keeping downtown clean and maintained. Yes, it's a pretty substantial task given how much social disorder there is, but even prior to these post-COVID years the City showed a real lack of civic pride for downtown. An extra couple million for higher frequency of just simple things like washing sidewalks, painting/repairing wore out/vandalized infrastructure, and some regular garbage picking patrols probably really could have gone a long way.

(before anyone even thinks to extrapolate this: no, I don't think cleaner sidewalks would have or will get us out of this current mess)

 

[kcantor]

Since there is a Calgary downtown response plan by the NDP and not an Edmonton plan over a year later, is it safe to assume Edmonton's downtown isnt a priority given that statement?

i tried to find the ucp’s edmonton downtown response plan to see how much of a priority edmonton’s downtown is for them and certainly don’t see much to get encouraged about on that front, particularly when looking at what got us here in the first place. edmonton might be the capital but calgary is where they govern from and all they seem to care about (except getting enough rural voters to get re-elected).

 

[Greenspace]

It is bizarre how few resources are seemingly allocated by the City for keeping downtown clean and maintained. Yes, it's a pretty substantial task given how much social disorder there is, but even prior to these post-COVID years the City showed a real lack of civic pride for downtown. An extra couple million for higher frequency of just simple things like washing sidewalks, painting/repairing wore out/vandalized infrastructure, and some regular garbage picking patrols probably really could have gone a long way.

(before anyone even thinks to extrapolate this: no, I don't think cleaner sidewalks would have or will get us out of this current mess)

It's coming. Can't say too much more yet.

 

[Greenspace]

What worries me about it getting worse before it gets better, is that it implies the situation gets better which further implies that there is some sort of catalyst for change. Who or what is that catalyst for change?

I applaud the Downtown Recovery Council, who unfortunately has stepped up to form in place of a leadership vacuum on downtown issues. But they can only advocate for change. There are so many things the city (and a lot of issues are not limited to the city i.e. mental health) needs to do from basic measures including cleanliness, maintenance, police presence, interfacing a hell of a lot more with businesses large and small, to more elaborate measures like incentives for continued development and business attraction.

And the city has demonstrated little position for doing any of that, which is partially why downtown is in this mess.

I live on 104 and I am appalled at the state of downtown. I have lost a lot of hope and I am very worried about the continued decay and lack of leadership on downtown.

Just a few comments to fill the the blanks. Many of the folks involved in DRC represent millions of dollars in assets or capital. It is a lobby group but also they believe in Edmonton and our downtown and are putting their money on the line. I haven't see so much effort on trying to solve these issues in a long time and trying to remain hopeful but fully understand the challenges and perceptions.

On cleanliness I am very hopeful about the way forward. There's more money coming, can't really release any details yet but significant investments are being made shortly. In addition, EDBA has Boyle Street teams out 7 days a week, and the City has a new window replacement program for businesses affected by vandalism. I have seen improvement on cleanliness over the last year.

 

[BASE]

With downtown’s current shortcomings, while cleanliness won’t solve everything, we could at least have it to a point where the mess isn’t one of the points made against downtown. Excited to hear there might be a big lift in this area.

 

[barhonda]

How about we overhaul our justice system? These repeat offenders that cause trouble and commit crimes only to be released in a few days aren't doing us any favours.

 

[The_Cat]

With the courthouse having the problems it's having, I'm guessing the courts have some degree of backlog.

 

[Gronk!]

Sohi, DBA want to bring more businesses downtown as Sport Chek leaves Edmonton City Centre

The city and other stakeholders in downtown Edmonton say more help is needed to address social issues in the area.

edmonton.ctvnews.ca

The mall’s general manager Sean Kirk responded with a statement saying the ECC’s ownership group was hesitant to invest any more money into downtown because of “significant safety issues.”

On Friday, Kirk issued a new statement clarifying his comments. “Continued investment to upgrade and improve Edmonton City Centre, maintain a first class shopping centre for our tenants and guests, and attract new and exciting retailers and businesses remains a priority,” Kirk wrote. “When the ownership group invested in Edmonton City Centre in 2019, they had the full intention of adding more density to the existing site that could include residential towers and additional commercial spaces. However, due to many factors, including safety in downtown, any expansion plans have been delayed until downtown market conditions improve.”

So in other words, the proposed ECC renovations are delayed for the foreseeable future.
Am I reading this right?

 

[northlands]

LaSalle has $79b USD AUM. Is this a priority to jam capital into while going into a likely economic recession? Probably not aside from trying to stop the bleeding where it makes sense

 

[Munanyo]

I'm happy the UCP is providing $5 million for downtown Edmonton specifically. It's not nearly enough, but a start as mentioned earlier.

I really hope the city starts taking cleanliness more seriously. That would go a long way. I'm so sick and tired of seeing dustbowls with flying garbage bags flying around on our "premier" downtown streets. It's a microcosm of how bad the state of downtown is currently.

I just wish there was a serious push by council and the province to push to attract some serious big time players in various fields here while simultaneously working to support homegrown businesses and entrepreneurs. We legitimately have some serious potential thanks to the U of A to have graduates go on to start companies here that would become world renowned. This neglect isn't just with the UCP, the NDP equally don't give a shit on the state of downtown Edmonton. They believe we are such a stronghold and so loyal to them, they don't need to cater to us much. Edmonton is like a naive puppy to the NDP, getting kicked down every time we run up to them.

 

[The_Cat]

I agree, not enough people care about keeping downtown clean. Even worse, the snow isn't shoveled in some places.

I remember the city having a campaign to remove graffiti from downtown buildings. It made a world of difference.

 

[TAS]

Maybe a part of city center mall could be turned into this!

New Costco Design With Apartments Overhead Has Property Brokers Buzzing

Big Box Retail Chain Usually Isn’t a Ground-Floor Tenant in Multifamily Developments

www.costar.com

"Thrive Living aims for roughly 23% of the units, or about 184 apartments, to be set aside for low-income households at the future Costco mixed-use development."

There's one in Vancouver built under a hi-rise