Downtown Edmonton's $2.6-billion gamble

A better article, with pictures:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/08/28 ... 31768.html

It sounds great, but unless developers are going to build three or four bedroom condos/apartments, then they will never get families living there.

And odds are they won't, because land prices are too high. The handful of large apartments will probably be penthouses with million dollar pricetags, which will put them out of reach for most families.

As such, downtown will almost certainly remain what it always was - a place for retirees to live in subsidized housing and some super-expensive condos for lawyers and doctors who want a flashy address. Everyone else will live there until they start a family and then move to the suburbs so they can get the space families need.

The top 33 floors of the Stantech building will be residential housing.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ ... -1.2747702

The beauty of large buildings is scale. With hundreds of new apartments on the market, the prices can only head down.

The building proposed by that Ontairo developer on 105 street will be luxury condos, just like that new building on Jasper at 120th.

I'm aware of that, but unless those "residential units" are three or four bedroom units at an affordable price (say 500k or so), most families will NOT live downtown.

The typical condo/apartment in most newer buildings downtown is the standard 800-900 sq ft 2 bed/2 bath variety. That is totally inadequate for a family of four and very cramped for a family of three.

Here's what MLS shows for 3 bedroom places in the core;

edmonton.jpg

Not one single option anywhere in the downtown core - you either have to head to 107 avenue or cross the river.

That's what I mean - no housing for families at all in the core.

So downtown will likely remain as it has been for a long time - populated by seniors and young professionals who don't need a big place (and when they do, they'll move out of downtown to a suburb).

I'm all for living downtown or in a denser neighbourhood, but the fact is that developers make it almost impossible to do so here in Edmonton.

Yea, you have a point there. I have a 3 bedroom but it's way, way out of town.

There is going to be an average of about 2,300 sq ft per residential unit...and, this quote:



* Average is based on 320 residential units on 33 floors, with an estimated floor space of 23,077 sq ft/floor (based on 600,000 sq ft across 26 floors of commercial space).

So, there is hope for 3+ bedroom suites...I asked a friend if he can get me a sneak at the preliminary drawings. I'll let you know if I can find any more info.

Bad news edit:

My contacts tell me that nothing has been finalized, as of yet (residential floor layouts), but they don't think that there will be anything drastically different than the typical downtown high rise....aside from finishes and cost, of course.



I still hope, but it is probably a pretty long shot.