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There will also be 454 condo units on the top 36 floors.

When the roughly $500-million project was unveiled last year, it was intended to have about 320 residential units.

The Stantec Tower will be bigger than either Calgary’s reigning champion, the 236-metre Bow, or Brookfield Place, the 247-metre, 56-storey structure that will supplant it when finished in 2017.

Canada’s tallest building remains Toronto’s First Canadian Place, finished in 1975. It stands 72 storeys or 298 metres.

A representative of the developer couldn’t be reached for comment.

Photo by Jessica Brisson / Edmonton Journal

Coun. Scott McKeen, whose ward includes downtown, was happy to hear the Stantec Tower is getting bigger.

“I have been jokingly pushing them every time I see them … It’s going to be a source of pride for all of us,” he said.

“I think it reflects the economic prosperity that the city has been enjoying, and to the surprise of a lot of people continues.”

Taylor credits Rogers Place for spurring Edmonton’s downtown development boom, which includes four other major condo buildings.

He doesn’t expect the current economic downturn will derail any construction that’s underway, saying the condos must have pre-sold enough space to make them a worthwhile investment.

“Everybody wants to try and burst this bubble, but the truth of the matter is, what’s absolutely going on right now can’t be stopped,” he said.

“That’s the next four or five years. Are you telling me the economy won’t get better in the next four or five years? Well, if it doesn’t, then we’re all in trouble.”

gkent@edmontonjournal.com

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