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I think idea of an Aquarium is interesting but an expensive one. More realistically, I hope a new more proactive mayor would bring back a gondola project as the city needs it for multiple reasons (as an attraction, for connectivity, environmentally friendly etc).
Despite proximity and low cost of the Quoters, I expect the city center will continue to gravitate slowly westwards. Because it is very hard to change something as abstract as "vibes".
In some not too distant future, I would expect the area around Botanical gardens will become sought after area for upscale developments. Speaking of which, why not to transform old Royal museum grounds into mini botanical gardens close ot the city center..
 
Speaking of which, why not to transform old Royal museum grounds into mini botanical gardens close ot the city center..

Before that museum was built, that area was actually the Lt. Governor's gardens, which were apparently a rather cherished part of the neighbourhood. One of the objections to the plan (apart from the giant tower in the original version) was that it turned all of this into a parking lot.
 
- The Blatchford Renewable Energy Utility will actually be in a position to turn a profit given the surge in new housing. Despite the rapidly growing population, Tim Cartmell's "party" will still campaign on scrapping the development plan while trying to present himself as a "fiscal responsibility" party even though his plan will inevitably yield lower gains and larger losses in the long run.
- Said party ultimately ends up vote splitting as a bigger dingus alternative emerges promising to re-open the Municipal Airport and resume commercial flights to the edge of Calgary. Also, you will be able to smoke on the planes again, and the flight attendants will be conventionally attractive and definitely into you. How will they pay for it? Cancelling bike lanes, of course! (Not necessarily literally this, bus someone will emerge with louder, dumber ideas to challenge him from the louder, dumber side of the spectrum and they will literally promise to pay for something extravagant by cutting bike lanes and possibly destroying the extant ones).
- We will still be waiting for the concept of a plan regarding any Calgary-Edmonton rail service, with a decline in oil prices caused by Saudi Arabia ever so slightly opening the taps casting doubt upon the future of the entire project.
- We will have a new gadgetbahn proposed as an excuse to not improve extant transit service. Strong contenders include a return of the gondola idea but in a new location, or a Boring Company cars in tunnels type of idea.
 
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Converting the Coliseum to a World Class Aquarium may not be as expensive as one would imagine. The CoE has already done internal estimates surmising that the demolition would cost $35Million CDN. We can generously grant that perhaps $3Million has already been spent removing some interior fixtures and executing asbestos abatement. With the City's current budget crisis and with the fact that the demolition funds have not yet been assigned budget--wise, it is doubtful that the demolition will proceed in 2025. Back to the Aquarium. The City could sell the building and land "as is" for about $3Million, enough to recoup what has been spent. The Aquarium group would then inherit a structure that is more than moderately appropriate for a build-out to be internally outfitted with Arctic and Alberta fish species Aquaria. In today's dollars the average cost of a Public Aquarium is around $150Million -- that would be a good place to begin a budgetary exercise.
 
Not a prediction but my best case scenario. The City expropriates the land along the river bank that Alldritt has been stringing along taxpayers for for the last 8 years about and tenders it to a group to build an observation tower with an upscale restaurant to service the convention center crowd. Then offer the tower group a property tax subsidy to kick start some upper end mid rise development. Downtown location that's close to the river valley is idea for a young professional wanting a live /work residence. Aren't some architects currently located on Church Street? Maybe even get archited to move the aquarium to within reasonable walking distance of the tower to supplement the entertainment district. Another thing that Edmonton doesn't have is an indoor driving range. Maybe one works in the Quarters, maybe not, but surely there are enough golfers in Edmonton to support a modern facility where golfers can practice year round.
 
1. 3 major Downtown projects get underway with over 1000 new dwelling units
2. 1-2 student housing projects get underway with 500+ units
3. 1 major new retailer is announced
4. 1 major hotel and associated brand is announced
5. 40 new beat officers are allocated to the Downtown and area to really begin to work on changing the image of the area.
 
1. 3 major Downtown projects get underway with over 1000 new dwelling units
2. 1-2 student housing projects get underway with 500+ units
3. 1 major new retailer is announced
4. 1 major hotel and associated brand is announced
5. 40 new beat officers are allocated to the Downtown and area to really begin to work on changing the image of the area.
Hoping and dreaming that a new "mixed-use" tower gets announced with a hotel as a tenant. It seems oddly peculiar that we only have the 5 core hotels in our DT: JW, Westin, Mac, Delta and the Sandman - maybe if some of the shittier ones closed down it would warrant a new one? For the love of Gawd - DT Seattle has "3 Hyatt hotels" within 2 blocks of each other. Hello Hyatt, Sheraton, Hilton (one of their 30 brands), Marriott (another one of their 40 brands).
 
Germain is sniffing around... ALT will come, but when and where?

Where CWB/Rental was to have gone? A new mixed-use on BMO? How about the lot east of the JW on 101/103A?

I'd love to see it incorporated into Falcon II on 104/100ave as it is a pleasant neighbourhood for hotel goers with enough nearby.
 
A Kananaskis style hotel village in the River Valley connected to downtown and Garneau with the gondola project would be cool. Use the hotel village to connect to a network of cross country ski trails - hiking and biking trails in summer - with overnight Skoki Lodge style lodges along the network. Coupling it with a National Park designation would be transformative for the city.
 
Edmonton should learn the lesson of Lucy the elephant and quit trying to make the city something that it is not. Edmonton is no place for tropical animals and aquatic creatures (unless you want a tank full of trout). The city should stick to its strengths, which, IMHO, does not include aquariums.
 
1. Warehouse Park will finish well ahead of schedule, with an opening date in the fall. We won't be very sad about the lack of a fountain.

2. The Parks will be 90% leased this time next year with plans to demo for stage two announced late 2025.

3. Plans will be released for the Connect Centre residential tower, which will be a market rate PBR in the same price point as Falcon and The Parks. Staging will begin late 2025.

A fast food spot will be an addition to the Ice District Plaza. Chipotle being the most likely one.

4. Regency will continue to sit on the Tegler site, and it will remain a thorn in our sides.

5. Autograph will begin construction on their 106 St project (Warehouse Park). The architecture will be better than anything else around it.

6. Westrich will announce / release renderings for another development that @archited hates. @IanO will diplomatically ignore him.

7. The Province will sell the Eric Cormack Centre lands.

8. The Jameson pit will be purchased by Maclab or Highpoint.
 
Germain is sniffing around... ALT will come, but when and where?

Where CWB/Rental was to have gone? A new mixed-use on BMO? How about the lot east of the JW on 101/103A?

I'd love to see it incorporated into Falcon II on 104/100ave as it is a pleasant neighbourhood for hotel goers with enough nearby.
Man what a win it would be to get something built on the parking lot east of Edmonton Tower. Would really help to further urbanize that intersection.
 
1) The initial phase of Strathearn Heights finally breaks ground.
2) Further details regarding Ice District Phase 2 are announced.
3) A new central river valley bridge is announced.
4) Someone will take a chance on a mid rise building in the Quarters but ground won't be broken yet.
5) Details about three towers along the Valley Line West alignment are announced. Maybe the Massey Ferguson lot?
6) Another couple hotels are announced for downtown.
7) Millwoods Town Centre gets going!
 
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