[David A]

Thanks, that makes sense. It always comes down to dollars and cents. With Edmonton’s high population growth I would have expected a high rise boom like Calgary and Ottawa have been having.

Things seem to go in and out of fashion and right now downtown high rises don't seem as interesting here. It could also partly be because several were completed in recent years and the market is now absorbing those units.

They seem to be being filled, so once that happens there might be several new ones happening here again too. I haven't been to Ottawa for a while, but when I went last they didn't seem to have very many high rises compared to us, so whatever boom they area having now may actually be catching up with elsewhere.

 

[degrandprix]

Big pour happening today!

 

[TAS]

Big pour happening today!

View attachment 723103

That's quite the wall to west and south of this new little 6-storey project.

 

[ChazYEG]

7

That's quite the wall to west and south of this new little 6-storey project.

7-story lol
Gotta celebrate the small victories

 

[Glenco]

Helsinki for reference

 

[archited]

^ If only!

 

[David A]

Well at least we can't use the excuse that it is a winter city or too cold to build nicer buildings here anymore. Helsinki definitely has a familiar wintery feel to in that picture.

 

[Jhawk]

^ And I suppose you believe that "feeding the beast" will make the beast go away. As long as developers "believe" that building the stick-frame uglies is a future-proof way of making money in the residential building game they will have fallen into the same trap that led to the capitulation to the walk-up phenomenon of the 60s/70s that so colored the then-called Oliver District adjacent to downtown E. There is no sin in building low rise accommodation that is artful and integral to the fabric of the City, but for gawd's sake at least make an effort!

Are you asking me? If so, I’m not sure why. The poster asked why there aren’t more high rises and I was offering an answer.
Personally, I like to see a balanced mix of housing types. IMO, Edmonton and Calgary have the best mix of new housing. SFH’s, rowhomes, and apartments. My city of Vancouver is heavily geared to apartments and not much else.

 

[Jhawk]

Things seem to go in and out of fashion and right now downtown high rises don't seem as interesting here. It could also partly be because several were completed in recent years and the market is now absorbing those units.

They seem to be being filled, so once that happens there might be several new ones happening here again too. I haven't been to Ottawa for a while, but when I went last they didn't seem to have very many high rises compared to us, so whatever boom they area having now may actually be catching up with elsewhere.

High rise buildings are always in fashion as long as the dollars work. There were some builds in Edmonton in recent years when the interest rates were lower. House prices need to be higher for it to work.
That’s why a similar sized city like Calgary has 22 high rises u/c and Ottawa has a dozen compared to 1 in Edmonton. Ottawa’s always had a lot of high rise construction, but it’s spread out over the city donut tends not to be very noticeable. Until just recently Ottawa had 25 high rises u/c.

 

[David A]

Being so spread out may explain why high rises are not as noticeable in downtown Ottawa. IMO high rises are generally better suited for more central areas.

Of course, being in Ontario housing prices are higher there than in Alberta, although I'm not sure if everyone living in those high rises are happy to be there or stuck there because they can't afford something else.

 

[Edmcowboy11]

I think there's still plenty of room for plenty of high rises throughout the downtown area. The area surrounding the new park I think works pretty decent with these shorter buildings. Still plenty of people moving into the area eventually so overall I think we're okay. When there's time for more high rises then we'll see more high rises.

 

[ChazYEG]

While the calculation details for ROI can be complex, the overall logic that will get us to more high rises being built is simple:

More people in the area -> more eyes on the street and more vibrancy
More eyes on the street and more vibrancy -> better perception and more successful businesses
Better perception and more successful business -> more attractive for more people and businesses
More attractive areas -> higher rental/sale prices
Higher rental/sale prices -> better margins
Better margins -> more expensive builds pencil out = higher likelihood of high rises being built

Some of these relations are not as direct or may happen simultaneously to others, but the overall takeaway for me is: these low and mid rises we're getting will very likely pave the way to high rises in the future, and it is not going to be for lack of space for that. We still have a huge sea of parking lots all over downtown, including the CBD, where high rises will probably happen in the not so distant future.

That said, it would be nice if we could get higher quality designs and finishes overall, but I also don't think most of the stuff being built downtown is as crappy as many here say.

 

[Kosy123]

While the calculation details for ROI can be complex, the overall logic that will get us to more high rises being built is simple:

More people in the area -> more eyes on the street and more vibrancy
More eyes on the street and more vibrancy -> better perception and more successful businesses
Better perception and more successful business -> more attractive for more people and businesses
More attractive areas -> higher rental/sale prices
Higher rental/sale prices -> better margins
Better margins -> more expensive builds pencil out = higher likelihood of high rises being built

Some of these relations are not as direct or may happen simultaneously to others, but the overall takeaway for me is: these low and mid rises we're getting will very likely pave the way to high rises in the future, and it is not going to be for lack of space for that. We still have a huge sea of parking lots all over downtown, including the CBD, where high rises will probably happen in the not so distant future.

That said, it would be nice if we could get higher quality designs and finishes overall, but I also don't think most of the stuff being built downtown is as crappy as many here say.

My controversial take in this forum is I ACTUALLY like the Westrich midrises in downtown lol

 

[David A]

While the calculation details for ROI can be complex, the overall logic that will get us to more high rises being built is simple:

More people in the area -> more eyes on the street and more vibrancy
More eyes on the street and more vibrancy -> better perception and more successful businesses
Better perception and more successful business -> more attractive for more people and businesses
More attractive areas -> higher rental/sale prices
Higher rental/sale prices -> better margins
Better margins -> more expensive builds pencil out = higher likelihood of high rises being built

Some of these relations are not as direct or may happen simultaneously to others, but the overall takeaway for me is: these low and mid rises we're getting will very likely pave the way to high rises in the future, and it is not going to be for lack of space for that. We still have a huge sea of parking lots all over downtown, including the CBD, where high rises will probably happen in the not so distant future.

That said, it would be nice if we could get higher quality designs and finishes overall, but I also don't think most of the stuff being built downtown is as crappy as many here say.

I pretty much agree with this. In particular, having more buildings and more people will improve the feel of the area, making it more desirable and more likely for high rises to be built downtown in the future.

However, between the park and the new buildings being built the sea of parking lots in this area is shrinking considerably and will be more like a pond after.

 

[IanO]