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Community members thanked the developer for re-engaging. “There have been valuable changes made to this proposal,” said Jaime Forster, chairwoman of the community league’s development committee.

But they asked for further changes to ensure more affordable and family-oriented units would be built in the first phase of construction.

Families are already moving out of the existing market-rate rental townhouses on-site, said Carolyn Skinner, member of the committee and former Edmonton Public Schools principal. With a long construction period anticipated and the majority of family-oriented units in the second phase, it “could mean that Holyrood School could also soon be gone.”

During the debate, Regency Developments agreed to build 20 per cent of its family-oriented units in the first phase, up from 10 per cent.

That’s “significant,” said chief operating officer Raj Dhunna, adding another bedroom increases rent and price, which is not what most tenants are looking for. “Market demand determines what gets built ultimately.”

Council voted down a proposal to force Regency to also ensure 60 of its two-bedroom units include a den. It will be allowed to build up 1,200 new units total.

The new design includes a transit plaza along 93 Avenue, the main corridor for residents accessing the LRT.

City officials said the renderings included in Regency’s package don’t look like much now — the Edmonton Design Committee suggested they’re little more than wide sidewalks. But the text of the zoning bylaw will ensure the final design must be to the satisfaction of the development officer and must go to the Edmonton Design Committee for review.

Regency also narrowed the floor plates of the proposed towers to allow more sunlight to filter through.

Construction will start south of 93 Avenue first. Nothing will happen north of 93 Avenue until at least 2022, said Dhunna. That means it should be able to accommodate existing tenants by moving them around the site rather than ending a lease.

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