The Quarters

[Aaron_Lloyd]

This is not the sort of development The Quarters needs. Concentrating poverty in this one area is the exact opposite of vibrancy. Genuinely disappointed in anyone actually boosting this as a good thing and not recognizing it for the massive step backwards it represents.

 

[YEG imagineer]

^The only positive is if WEAC vacated the Flat Iron and it could get returned to regular apartments with CRUs on the ground floor. I agree we should avoid keeping the concentration of social services high in the area.

 

[Munanyo]

I still wish the city had an ambitious plan and vision for The Quarters. Calgary's East Village has come a long way, why can't The Quarters? I completely understand Edmonton is not a big enough city to support multiple entertainment type districts, however this could very well be an ambitious city changing project centred around pedestrian usage and really rejuvenate what I still consider as being a part of downtown.

 

[SarcasticMarmot]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/proposed-affordable-housing-development-for-the-quarters-gives-neighbours-hopes-of-vibrancy-1.7366855

Some more information RE the E4C project... and some delusion.

I actually wonder if the journalist has conflated the shelter beds and WEAC. 50 shelter beds and 17 transitional beds is pretty close to the existing role of WEAC. I wonder if the new building is just moving services of WEAC. Building a new building does nothing to change operational funding so they may just be relocating. So it may not be a new concentration at all. I can ask around but I don't know for sure.

 

[David A]

This is not the sort of development The Quarters needs. Concentrating poverty in this one area is the exact opposite of vibrancy. Genuinely disappointed in anyone actually boosting this as a good thing and not recognizing it for the massive step backwards it represents.

There is no vibrancy now, so the first step is to increase the number of people living in this area however possible and then fine tune it. It is not the most desirable area, so I would think the realistic target would be low to moderate income housing initially.

 

[CplKlinger]

I actually wonder if the journalist has conflated the shelter beds and WEAC. 50 shelter beds and 17 transitional beds is pretty close to the existing role of WEAC. I wonder if the new building is just moving services of WEAC. Building a new building does nothing to change operational funding so they may just be relocating. So it may not be a new concentration at all. I can ask around but I don't know for sure.

I listened to the meeting and that is indeed the case; there's just a slight increase in capacity, iirc it will increase the percentage of affordable housing in The Quarters by around 0.5% (something like from 21.5% to 21.9%). Aside from moving their shelter spaces and transitional housing, they're also going to move their administrative staff to the third floor of the building, and vacate the school. There would be around 70-80 professionals working on the third floor on a regular basis, but up to 150 staff when they do training or meetings there.

Honestly, I wasn't a fan of this proposal at first, but the endorsements from the local Chinese associations swayed me. Apparently, E4C are great neighbours and their current operations haven't brought any issues to the area. As well, they're very cognizant of integrating properly with the park and want to incorporate commercial space for further activation (though it's not clear to me if the commercial space would come right away or not). Considering those factors, I think this is a better outcome than leaving the lots along the park vacant until market conditions improve further.

 

[Greenspace]

I still wish the city had an ambitious plan and vision for The Quarters. Calgary's East Village has come a long way, why can't The Quarters? I completely understand Edmonton is not a big enough city to support multiple entertainment type districts, however this could very well be an ambitious city changing project centred around pedestrian usage and really rejuvenate what I still consider as being a part of downtown.

In Calgary, there is a municipal development corporation. They purchased all the land in East Village first then decided how it would be developed. In the Quarters there's hundreds of landowners. Parcels are not assembled for development and pricing is way out of whack.

East Village | Calgary Municipal Land Corporation

East Village is home to more than 1,200 new condos and more than 3,500 residents with a variety of retailers and restored heritage buildings. Learn more.

www.calgarymlc.ca

 

[David A]

In Calgary, there is a municipal development corporation. They purchased all the land in East Village first then decided how it would be developed. In the Quarters there's hundreds of landowners. Parcels are not assembled for development and pricing is way out of whack.

Having to deal with numerous owners of smaller parcels probably makes doing things harder and take longer, but big picture - downtown Calgary to the west is chock full of office space, so really this was the only place in proximity to downtown which much available land. We still have other more desireable areas available on the west, south and north sides of downtown to develop for residential.

I do strongly feel the key to success is doing one more larger affordable housing projects in this area, so it is not so barren and starts to feel more like a community, which could also make it more desirable. The good news is this does not require such a large initial land assembly.

 

[Greenspace]

^If choosing just one parcel, it would be the land north of Doubletree. 5 lots owned by the City. A few deals have fallen through, hopefully something can happen in next few years there.

 

[SarcasticMarmot]

In Calgary, there is a municipal development corporation. They purchased all the land in East Village first then decided how it would be developed. In the Quarters there's hundreds of landowners. Parcels are not assembled for development and pricing is way out of whack.

https://www.calgarymlc.ca/districts/east-villa

Wait, so "Free Market" Calgary has a Municipal Development Corporation while "Big Government" Edmonton does not? As usual, stereotypes don't match reality.

In all seriousness, I really wish Edmonton would look at an arms length MDC to push forward the big number of city owned spaces in the city and consolidate land squatted on by owners uninterested in developing. I have a hard time not seeing it be better than the current system relying on the whims and priorities of council.

 

[Greenspace]

If you recall, there was discussion at Council about an MDC last year. Council rejected the idea. The only thing I can think of why (and explained to me) is that they just don't get the benefit.

Keith Gerein: Edmonton should dig deeper into a Municipal Development Corporation

The City of Edmonton could research a business case for an arm's-length land development corporation, but council appears unwilling

edmontonjournal.com

 

[David A]

Even if you could somehow by pass council, who would fund this? How would the land acquisition be paid for? This isn't a problem some magical new structure will just solve.

Fundamentally, it has to do with demand, the perception of the area and the availability of land around the downtown core elsewhere.

Treating this as some big all or nothing project has led to a long period of nothing and is the wrong approach here.