I'm aware of discussions and deal-making that are nearing conclusion for a large potential residential conversion downtown. I'll share details here if and when anything becomes more official.

I'm eyeballing a move to Oliver. Lots of nice new builds going up there. Just unfortunate that we can't do better right in the heart of our city, and I know I'm not alone in looking at this move. Probably one good reason so many new residential buildings are going up in the west of the core.

Which area of downtown do you live in? I'm right next to the mall.

Unfortunately when I look at things I honestly don't see my daily experience getting better. Maybe in some ways, but it's been getting worse in others. I find the general garbage and needles strewn on the streets has decreased which is good. However, and it could just be seasonal, the vandalism...

That's really disappointing. As someone who lives downtown I'm getting increasingly disheartened about the state of things. The bad news like this far outweighs the good, and the living experience has gone way down hill. Might finally be time for me to leave.

Anyone know of updates on this? It just happens to line up with the rumored testing completion date,

My only rationale would be that investments by competitors force investments internally. Those buildings are all nearby so if they invest LaSalle has to invest to keep pace or potentially lose tenants.

Sad to hear those costs. That's outrageous but not surprising. Glad to hear the feedback has been passed on. Downloading social challenges onto businesses is not very "pro business" as the UCP would like to claim they are.

I walked through on Saturday, not even realizing there was an event this weekend. The crowd was sparser but It looked like an awesome event. I hope they keep bringing it back here and it grows in popularity because the only thing I observed on Saturday is that the square should have been packed...

In my own experience walking through the mall on a regular basis I've definitely observed this. You can see their attempts to use the space creatively in the arts display in the old McBain space and the "made in Edmonton" pop up, and there are so many security guards on-site I honestly worry...

A photo from that angle is going to look 100% different in a few years. Progress!

+1. The giant octopus was my favorite of the early drafts but I'm still fairly content with this.

As someone who lives in the area, and used to work in the mall, I appreciate how busy it gets at lunch, but unfortunately it doesn't do much for shops. They can't staff for 90 minutes a day and that is certainly when they do most of their business. Although I think offices returning headcount...

From a community perspective, residential conversion for that building would be a great addition to all hours foot traffic and to support the local businesses

I would strongly suspect that a specialty grocery store by the Corso group would not directly compete with Safeway or Shoppers and would more likely serve as a high end destination for consumers from not just Oliver but nearby wealthy neighbourhoods as well.

I hadn't heard Von's was coming downtown and can't find any mention of it on various socials and blogs. Where does that news come from? Just curious.

I hope so. It's been four different venues already since Hundred left, aside from being mostly vacant. I was concerned when I heard June launch because that sounds impractical, like an inexperienced restauranteur, but we will see. It was a second hand report so maybe just a game of telephone.

Renovations are underway in the large McLeod restaurant space. Apparently it will be a steakhouse of some sort. I've been told they are targeting a June opening but if they want to do the renos well I would expect that to slip.

Agreed. I see beat cops downtown so rarely that I actually gasped once when I saw them a while back. Now that it's warm out I have seen them a couple of times on bicycles at least, but it would be nice to see more presence on the street instead of 5-7 officers all in ECC.

I'd suspect not good. This spot has been very troubled for more or less the last decade. The only thing materially changing now is Five Oaks is trying to sell the spot instead of just leasing it. I talked to a rep from Five Oaks about six weeks ago and he said there was a deal pending but I'm...