Tall & Urban News

Developers ProCura and Great Gulf plan to build a 50- to 55-story slim tower on the southeast corner of Jasper Avenue and 100th Street, currently the location of Frank Oliver Park.

Edmonton city council voted September 23 to approve the new high-rise that will neighbor Edmonton’s historic Hotel Macdonald.

Councilors approved rezoning the park at a council meeting Monday in a 9-3 vote.

The park is not owned by the city. The land was sold in the 1980s as part of a deal to save the hotel, according to Mayor Don Iveson. Back then, another tower was approved for the park site, but it was never built.

The new tower is “a better tower” than what was previously approved, Iveson said. He said the original design, although not as tall as the one approved Monday, was “nasty and hulking.”

There had been conversations over the years about the city buying the land, “but the cost of it was always based on the development rights for a 39-story office tower, which was just prohibitive for the city,” Iveson said.

A rendering of the original design showed the high-rise much closer to the historic hotel. The slim tower has now shifted to leave a green space between the new tower and the hotel. The building will include some commercial and public space, along with rental residential apartments.

The mayor called the slim tower design more “elegant” than what the original zoning allowed for.

The entrance to the Central LRT station on the corner of Jasper Avenue and 100 Street will be removed. Iveson said it was estimated that upgrades and repairs would cost around CA$10 million (US$7.5 million). Other entrances to the LRT station won’t be affected.

The proposed tower’s footprint is about 25 to 30 percent smaller than standard designs, said Geoff Matthews, senior vice-president with Great Gulf.

“It’s [a design] that we’ve done often in Toronto,” Matthews said. “In that city, there’s not a lot of land left to build on…we’re looking to bring that to Edmonton, because we think it’s better urban design, especially for a site as important as this.”

Councilors raised concerns about the shadow cast by the building. Matthews said the concerns are valid and will be addressed throughout the development process.

The developer hopes to start construction by late 2020.

For more on this story go to CBC.