We asked the expert: What will the proposed 80-storey building beside the Shaw Conference Centre mean for the community?

On October 17, the Edmonton public got a chance to see Alldritt Land Corporation’s plans for a proposed 80-storey building to be constructed for the urban renewal project downtown.

If approved, the tentatively named “The Quarters Hotel and Residences” would become the tallest building in Edmonton at 280 metres. Currently, Epcor Tower is Edmonton’s tallest structure at 150 metres. The new skyscraper will be located in the “Quarters Downtown” on the eastern edge of downtown Edmonton, and would neighbour the Shaw Conference Centre between Jasper Avenue and Grierson Hill Road west of 96th street.

The downtown renewal project, called the “Boyle Renaissance,” is a “made-in-community solution” to provide the area with affordable housing opportunities, and services for childcare, family, culture, and parks. The original plan, however, didn’t include the construction of a 280-metre tall tower.

We were curious about what such a huge building will mean for downtown Edmonton, so we hit up community development researcher Bob Summers, a Faculty Services Officer in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Human Geography and Planning students may recognize Summers from his courses this year: HGP 210 (Introductory Planning History and Practice) and HGP 250 (Natural Resources and Environmental Management).

The Gateway: How will this 280-metre tall building affect the Quarters Downtown?

Bob Summers: If it comes to fruition it will really be transformative. It will be one of the nicest looking streets in Edmonton.

Is this going to be a mean case of gentrification?

Summers: In this case it’s very dramatic. They’re largely levelling the whole area. Some of the older affordable hotels in the area, that lots of transient people were living in, have been torn down. Some people there were partially homeless — sometimes they would have a place to stay and other times they wouldn’t. So it will be gentrifying a place that was in really rough shape. There were a lot of gravel parking lots there already. The hope is, if the policy is in place, that there will be affordable housing options. With that said there will be some people displaced in the short term.

How will an 80-storey building change how people receive the river valley spatially and visually?

Summers: Access to the river valley is key. The City of Edmonton has a river valley policy and has had one for a long time. Basically whenever you build something there should be public access on the river valley side so you can walk past whatever is built there and still enjoy the view of the river valley. Now behind you there might be a huge tower, but you should still have access.

Is the “Boyle Renaissance” disrupting area history?

Summers: Most of it was torn down long ago. There are just a few strips of buildings that remain. In the past the city had a redevelopment plan: they bought up a lot of the land, tore down a lot of the buildings and left them as parking lots. Then they abandoned that plan, sold off those properties, and then came back with a new development plan decades later. Both private and public interest have bought those properties back to redevelop.

So this shouldn’t be a big surprise to people that this redevelopment is occurring?

Summers: The only change is this property was not in the plan to be developed as a tower. The plan originally called for an open view to the river valley. It will now have this building at the end of it.