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The Oliver Community League is also concerned, not just with height and mass, but with the design of the main floor. They want to see smaller retail bays at street level, so the building has more pedestrian engagement with Jasper.

Is there room for a compromise? Regency is already offering to give the Oliver Community League $200,000 for improved neighbourhood amenities, such as enhanced park space in Edmonton’s most densely populated neighbourhood. (That’s a big improvement from Regency’s opening offer of just $50,000.)

Regency is also offering to sell the city five per cent of its units at 85 per cent of list price, so that the city can offer them as affordable housing units. The community league, in turn, is asking Regency to raise that to 14 per cent of the units, and to build more three-bedroom suites, large enough for families.

But Simon O’Byrne of Stantec, which is managing the project, says Regency can’t change its parking plans. Putting the parking above ground, he says, saves about $50,000 per parking stall. That will allow the Emerald to sell its two-bedroom units for $350,000, much lower than a typical downtown condo. That price point, he says, will attract more families to Oliver, which badly needs them.

We absolutely need more residential density in the city’s core — and building tall towers is a more efficient way to achieve that than adding a few more skinny houses. And we need more pizzazz and colour on Jasper Avenue, our city’s main drag. And Jasper needs investment now, especially, with Ice District pulling people and investment further north.