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First garage suites, now an 18-unit apartment block — Edmonton is about to get another taste of container housing.

“We’re going to attract millennials and artists to an up-and-coming neighbourhood,” said builder Daniel Engelman, after councillors approved a funding deal that would give him land in the Boyle Street neighbourhood interest free for 10 years to make his project work.

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The mixed-use development would go in across from a small park from Urban Manor, 9524 104 Ave., a supportive housing facility for those at risk of being homeless. It’s beside the former York Hotel site, which city officials hope will eventually host an ambulance bay in another mixed-use development.

The city is trying to expropriate the nearby scrapyard.

“To be first, somebody has to do it,” said Engelman, crediting the city’s redevelopment work in Boyle Street/The Quarters for making the project possible. “It’s location near downtown is amazing. It’s been underutilized for years and it’s time. The location is perfect. The city has amazing plans. They’ve put in a lot of work and somebody needs to step up.”