Tower 101 | 175m | 50s | Regency Developments | DER + Associates

[Kosy123]

Nobody is interested, because there is no demand for office, there’s no demand for residential, there’s no demand for anything downtown given the state of our downtown

This is such a 2020-2021 excuse. If there's no demand for residential then why tf is Phipps McKinnon getting some residential units, or why is Qualico doubling down on a site right across the roughest/sketchiest part of the core, hell even Ian's Westrich is plopping down 6 story midrises at a pace not seen in a long time.

It's a lousy excuse designed to cater to people's perception and lack of knowledge of downtown. I'm extremely annoyed by this answer. Sell the lot to Katz or something at this point ffs

 

[archited]

There are a number of items that I would put on a list of "musts" for Mayor and Councillor consideration for election acceptability and this one should sit at the top:
1. forced sale of Tower 101 where the City mediates the sale (purchase has to be accompanied with a bid offer, a design concept and an action plan).
2. stop the demolition of the Coliseum and rebook proposal concepts (Alberta Avenue has lost much of its industrial and entertainment raison d'être and there should be a plan to reenergize this area -- a Coliseum proposal would be a good start -- personally, I feel that it could be converted to a Travel Hub + world-class Aquarium + a retail theme centre)
3. provide incentives for downtown densification (the last effort had a measurable success; it should be repeated)
4. reopen the case for a cross-river aerial tram on the exact same route as was last proposed (this would have been a significant boon for downtown)
These would be minimum entry ideations for any participant in elected office at the Edmonton Municipal level.

 

[David A]

Why the F were they given a tax rebate for demolishing such a nice building?!

Two nice, decent buildings were demolished on this site over the decades and now it is vacant and this prominent location looks like crap.

You have to be a special kind of stupid to keep repeating such mistakes.

 

[David A]

I call BS on that last statement. If there is no demand for residential then obviously Qualico, Maclab, Langham, Cidex to only name a few are just plain dumb for building their respective buildings. Why would the spend all that money if no one will want to move into them.

Yes, I agree it is just BS. I feel the owner lacks resources, imagination or flexibility and is just trying to blame the market for his shortcomings.

 

[Offworld]

It's a stark reminder of the lack of institutional grade capital in our fair city as this would have undoubtably been picked up by now.

Entirely on-point.

Recently, I was talking to a person that ran a sizeable division of a large Canadian institutional real estate company. I asked that person what they might have up their sleeves for Edmonton and the response was hard to hear: Why would we do anything in Edmonton? Nothing happens there any more.

 

[Agard]

It's not just frustrating that we have this empty lot, it's that they also showed us a beautiful design that will probably never get built. It's as if they're mocking us: "look what we could do if we cared"

 

[JMatt88]

Entirely on-point.

Recently, I was talking to a person that ran a sizeable division of a large Canadian institutional real estate company. I asked that person what they might have up their sleeves for Edmonton and the response was hard to hear: Why would we do anything in Edmonton? Nothing happens there any more.

Ouch, did they elaborate on that comment? Are they true with that assessment?

 

[Avenuer]

Entirely on-point.

Recently, I was talking to a person that ran a sizeable division of a large Canadian institutional real estate company. I asked that person what they might have up their sleeves for Edmonton and the response was hard to hear: Why would we do anything in Edmonton? Nothing happens there any more.

Lol the only thing happening here is the country's highest population growth for a major city. They are missing out.

 

[David A]

Entirely on-point.

Recently, I was talking to a person that ran a sizeable division of a large Canadian institutional real estate company. I asked that person what they might have up their sleeves for Edmonton and the response was hard to hear: Why would we do anything in Edmonton? Nothing happens there any more.

I don't know where the person who said that comes from, but it sounds the like condescending type of comment from the "centre of the universe", that attitude is really nothing new, has been like that for decades.

Actually as pointed out, people are leaving there in droves, but perhaps the most smug and unaware just haven't realized it yet.

 

[BASE]

Very weird take indeed given it is the 4th largest city in the country and 5th or 6th largest (depending on the day) metro with a growing population, rising real estate prices, and pretty good average incomes. Edmonton needs a PR makeover it appears.

 

[MattPT]

Lol the only thing happening here is the country's highest population growth for a major city. They are missing out.

I know this is all just based on some random anecdote, but to me this points to the irreparable damage our provincial government is doing. Why would big money even consider a backwards disgusting province of climate change denying, oil loving, trump supporting separatists…………………… I know that’s not Edmonton, and hopefully not the majority of Alberta… but that’s what we are because of the idiot Smith. There is so much intangible damage that’s being done on top of the obvious. Wake the fuck up.

 

[Avenuer]

Very weird take indeed given it is the 4th largest city in the country and 5th or 6th largest (depending on the day) metro with a growing population, rising real estate prices, and pretty good average incomes. Edmonton needs a PR makeover it appears.

Is Edmonton larger than Ottawa-Gatineau proper now? I could see that with the wild population growth we've been seeing.

1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Calgary
4. Edmonton?
5. Ottawa-Gatineau?

 

[constance_chlore]

Is Edmonton larger than Ottawa-Gatineau proper now? I could see that with the wild population growth we've been seeing.

1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Calgary
4. Edmonton?
5. Ottawa-Gatineau?

If this is a ranking of cities proper (as implied by the absence of Vancouver) note that Ottawa and Gatineau are also separate cities.

 

[Avenuer]

If this is a ranking of cities proper (as implied by the absence of Vancouver) note that Ottawa and Gatineau are also separate cities.

Fair point, Gatineau would be included in the CMA for Ottawa. With that in mind, it's definitely likely Edmonton proper is larger than Ottawa now.

 

[ChazYEG]

Is Edmonton larger than Ottawa-Gatineau proper now? I could see that with the wild population growth we've been seeing.

1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Calgary
4. Edmonton?
5. Ottawa-Gatineau?

No, according to population estimates for July 2024, Ottawa had around 1.26M and Edmonton 1.196M (both city proper).
The Edmonton CMA might've caught up with Ottawa-Gatineau CMA by December, but as of July 2024, estimates had Ottawa-Gatineau at 1.66M and Edmonton at 1.63M.
Now, mind you, I believe right before the 2021 Census there was an addition to the Ottawa-Gatineau CMA, and there was some consolidation of smaller municipalities into Ottawa proper, as well, if I am not mistaken.
Edmonton, for now at least, stands as both the 5th largest city and metro areas in Canada

Edit:

After looking at conflicting information, I have gathered that Ottawa proper was at 1.097M by December 2024 (City of Ottawa's estimates), making Edmonton proper the 4th largest municipality in Canada by about 100k people.