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Edmonton Real Estate Market

IanO said:
Just back from Portland where the mid-rise reigned the day and reminded me how much it would be nice to see more of this in Edmonton.

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Portland does have quite an impressive collection of low-mid rises.
 
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MacLac said:
Portland does have quite an impressive collection of low-mid rises.
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I really liked Portland when I briefly visited a number of years ago. It had a downtown on a more human scale and did not seem as overwhelmed by big high rises as its neighbouring west coast cities.

Of course we already have our ubiquitous 3 storey walk ups in Oliver and Stratcona and a lot of the newer buildings being built there and elsewhere are now 4 to 8 storeys so I think we will have a good collection of low-mid rises sometime in the future too.
 
MacLac said:
Portland does have quite an impressive collection of low-mid rises.
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Yep. We could learn a lot from their ability to tackle the 'missing middle' with panache. Beljan seems closest in replicating this, albeit on a smaller scale, but generally our human-scaled stuff is lacking aesthetically. The Army & Navy proposal on Whyte actually reminds me a lot of Portland-style infill. Seattle, Austin, Minneapolis, Denver, LA, and even (surprisingly) Phoenix also have some great missing middle architecture.

David A said:
I really liked Portland when I briefly visited a number of years ago. It had a downtown on a more human scale and did not seem as overwhelmed by big high rises as its neighbouring west coast cities.

Of course we already have our ubiquitous 3 storey walk ups in Oliver and Stratcona and a lot of the newer buildings being built there and elsewhere are now 4 to 8 storeys so I think we will have a good collection of low-mid rises sometime in the future too.
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The problem is our low-rise infill is often ugly because we view it as 'filler'. Which is fine... not every building needs to be a landmark, but Portland shows that even filler pieces can have style. Locally, only Beljan seems capable of this on a wide scale. Outside investment is also sort of lacking in Edmonton compared to other Canadian cities while our local firms are 'just fine' at best, but often very mediocre (TNP, BCM, Langham, etc) probably due to the lack of good architecture/design schools to facilitate a culture of nice aesthetics to spend our ample incomes on.
 
I'd love to hear people's opinions and experiences with BILD. Is it worth it for a new, smaller construction management company to join the membership?

Apologies, I am a new member so please let me know if this kind of post isn't allowed.
 
Milliemoon said:
I'd love to hear people's opinions and experiences with BILD. Is it worth it for a new, smaller construction management company to join the membership?

Apologies, I am a new member so please let me know if this kind of post isn't allowed.
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BILD AB?
 
dunno said:
Yep. We could learn a lot from their ability to tackle the 'missing middle' with panache. Beljan seems closest in replicating this, albeit on a smaller scale, but generally our human-scaled stuff is lacking aesthetically. The Army & Navy proposal on Whyte actually reminds me a lot of Portland-style infill. Seattle, Austin, Minneapolis, Denver, LA, and even (surprisingly) Phoenix also have some great missing middle architecture.


The problem is our low-rise infill is often ugly because we view it as 'filler'. Which is fine... not every building needs to be a landmark, but Portland shows that even filler pieces can have style. Locally, only Beljan seems capable of this on a wide scale. Outside investment is also sort of lacking in Edmonton compared to other Canadian cities while our local firms are 'just fine' at best, but often very mediocre (TNP, BCM, Langham, etc) probably due to the lack of good architecture/design schools to facilitate a culture of nice aesthetics to spend our ample incomes on.
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Fashion and styles change and many buildings from certain eras are now viewed as ugly, while older and newer things are not. Sometimes they are also at the age where they start to fall into considerable disrepair before someone eventually decides to fix them up. This is something consistent throughout time and not just the current generation, here it led to tearing down of a lot of old often smaller run down buildings downtown that today might be fixed up and regarded as classics with character.

In part due to the age of our city and its growth, we have more out of style buildings now. Some have been or will be renovated, restored or removed and newer ones added so over time this may be less of an issue.

I liked the Army & Navy proposal too and hope something like that eventually happens and I agree getting an architecture/design school here would probably also help improve things.
 
Milliemoon said:
Yeah, BILD AB and I guess UDI Edmonton is under it too
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We depend on BILD AB for provincial-wide advocacy, policy work and have them speak once or twice a year and see a lot of value in them.

UDI Edmonton is quite active and a good group as well, transitioning more and more into a far more balanced advocacy group than even 10 years ago.

You might want to also consider IDEA if your business deals with infill as they have done A TON of work on many folk's behalf.
www.infilledmonton.com

Infill Development in Edmonton Association

The Infill Development in Edmonton Association (IDEA) is an advocacy group that provides input, advice, education and resources on infill development to the City of Edmonton, communities and development industry in Edmonton.
www.infilledmonton.com www.infilledmonton.com
 
David A said:
Fashion and styles change and many buildings from certain eras are now viewed as ugly, while older and newer things are not. Sometimes they are also at the age where they start to fall into considerable disrepair before someone eventually decides to fix them up. This is something consistent throughout time and not just the current generation, here it led to tearing down of a lot of old often smaller run down buildings downtown that today might be fixed up and regarded as classics with character.

In part due to the age of our city and its growth, we have more out of style buildings now. Some have been or will be renovated, restored or removed and newer ones added so over time this may be less of an issue.

I liked the Army & Navy proposal too and hope something like that eventually happens and I agree getting an architecture/design school here would probably also help improve things.
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I'm not even necessarily talking about "dated" architecture. Manulife and Commerce Place are from the derided PoMo era and I think they're some of our most beautiful skyscrapers. There's also some real gems in those '60s and '70s walkups that are often overlooked.

What I'm saying is the stuff we're building now is often quite mediocre and ugly. And honestly? The renovations to older buildings in endless greige is much worse than what was there before.
 
I would like to see the retail along the east side of 124 St extended to match the retail strip on the west side, therefore St George's Orthodox Church and the adjacent parking lot can be repurposed as such.
 
^ I agree. I’ve been there for a few funeral services on the Greek side of my family and it’s a beautiful building. Surprised the church is selling. They also own the plot directly east of the Edmonton Motors Lands development parcel.
 
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