I think what's being missed here is that even though this building isn't the most compelling looking (and some might even say ugly), it is still a net positive for the city. It's adding a significant amount of new housing downtown, it's getting rid of a parking lot eyesore, it's something that's actually getting built... (often a lot to ask for in Edmonton).
The reason cities like Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, etc are able to build so many nice new residential buildings downtown is because the pressure on the housing market there is through the roof. Developers can charge significantly more per square meter for rent, condo prices, etc. So naturally are able to use more expensive, higher quality materials and have a greater degree of architectural experimentation in their projects.
It is a good thing that developers can still build a project like this in the city. Even though some of us (including me) might think it looks a little dull. It means the city hasn't fallen to the housing crunch (yet), and that the city, even downtown is still generally affordable, which is something that can't be said for those other three.
It's not going to be tall enough that it will significantly impact the skyline too much, and as
@Seamusmuldrew says, it's likely going to become less prominent as the area around it fills in.
Positives:
- New housing downtown, and all the other positive externalities that come with it
- Gets rid of a parking lot
- Helps downtown fill in more
Negatives:
- Its boring looking and somewhat ugly
I'm not sure what else there is to say...
We can all agree it's not exactly the most attractive building, but anyone arguing it shouldn't have been built because its not a looker is missing the forest for the trees. Likewise, for if we start sending developers back to the drawing board every time they propose a slightly subpar building, pretty quickly projects will start to dry up.
We don't need to rehash this, we all known that certain people really hate this building because it's kind of ugly. I hate to break it to you, but it's getting built whether you like it or not, so try to look on the bright side and see the good it's doing for the city.