[Daveography]

Oliver highrise gets a thumbs-down from city staff
The city’s sustainable development department is recommending against a proposed high-rise apartment in the Oliver neighbourhood, saying the building’s design does not fit with the neighbourhood’s characteristics.

The proposed site, sitting on two lots at 9918 and 9922 111 St., is currently zoned to allow apartments up to four storeys. A 165-unit high-rise would climb 30 storeys if it goes forward.

The rezoning application comes from Westrich Pacific Corp., the developer behind the downtown Encore Tower, which began construction this spring, and the Ultima Tower, completed last fall.

Travis Pawlyk, a senior planner with the city, said the application is being recommended against because the building’s design would impose its size on its neighbours and pedestrians.

“It’s not able to sensibly fit in with the neighbourhood,” said Pawlyk.

Essentially, administration thinks the building is too large for the site it would sit on.

“It’s negating some of the fundamental principles of big building design and the siting of those big buildings.”

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/sustainable-development-unsupportive-of-oliver-highrise

Concerns over proposed 30-storey condo near downtown Edmonton
City staff are not throwing their support behind a proposed condo in Edmonton’s Oliver neighbourhood.

The building is being proposed at 99 Avenue and 111 Street, and an application has been submitted to change the zoning to allow for a 90-metre tall high rise, or up to 30 storeys. Current zoning in the area restricts buildings to four storeys.

The city’s sustainable development department has reservations about the design of the building, which would be directly adjacent to a four storey apartment building.

“The proposed zone would allow for a tall tower on a very small site, while not providing appropriate transitions to surrounding properties and the public realm. As such, it is an overdevelopment of the site that does not contribute to the liveability of the Oliver neighbourhood,” reads a report headed to a city council public hearing this week.

Area councillor Scott McKeen said the building is nicely designed, but he is concerned about the height of the proposed condo.

“We’re putting a lot of people on not that much space and then the distance between the proposed tower and the four storey apartment building next door is not very much,” he said.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3554809/concerns-over-proposed-30-storey-condo-near-downtown-edmonton/

 

[Momin]

Update: http://edmonton.skyrisecities.com/n...f-recommend-refusal-30-storey-oliver-proposal

 

[Daveography]

Will this be the tower council turns down? Developer pitches 28 storeys on two single lots
Council will debate the merits of building a 28-storey tower on two just two single family lots in the Grandin area of Oliver Wednesday afternoon, a tower its own planners oppose.

But if council votes no, it would be a first for this council.

According to city records, the last time any Edmonton council opposed a new tower in Edmonton was 2009, when council turned down a 34-storey pitch for Bellamy Hill downtown.

Edmonton’s planners say the Grandin proposal is just too large for the spot. It’s in the middle of a block, and the tight quarters mean the building offers a minimal podium with little wind protection and other features for pedestrians.

“It needs more space to breath around it,” said Travis Pawlyk, a senior city planner who will be arguing against the tower at the public hearing Wednesday.

The building has two townhouses at the ground floor, which adds some texture to the facade to make it comfortable at the scale of a pedestrian. But part of the building front will have a full 90-metre wall just three metres away from the sidewalk, said Pawlyk.

That’s very different from the rest of the Oliver neighbourhood, where tall buildings built during the 1970s and 1980s are set well back from the sidewalk, with trees and other vegetation in between. That allows a very high density neighbourhood to maintain a community feel, he said. Other city policies call for a large two- to four-storey podium at the bottom of a tower to break the wind and make the street feel more open.

STANTEC/WESTRICH PACIFIC

STANTEC/WESTRICH PACIFIC

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/loc...veloper-pitches-30-storeys-on-two-single-lots

 

[Daveography]

Council debating shortly: http://councilontheweb.edmonton.ca/

 

[Daveography]

Elise Stolte‏ @estolte
Here's the vote. The tower fails. #yegcc

 

[archited]

Colour me surprised -- but happy that this one bit the dust -- uninspired design crammed onto an undeserving site.

 

[Daveography]

Edmonton council rejects first tower since 2009
Edmonton’s city council turned down its first tower in eight years Wednesday as it sent a 28-storey proposal for Grandin back to the drawing board.

“We do need to establish some boundaries,” said Mayor Don Iveson, before the tower re-zoning failed 8-3. “If we were to approve this, we would really be saying there are no rules, no limits.”

The Westrich Pacific proposal would have seen a thin tower rising almost straight up from the street on just two single-family lots.

But council balked at the tower’s impact on the existing four-storey building to the south. Residents with rooftop patios would be left with only a narrow sliver of sky.

Other councillors questioned the developer’s “faint” attempt at a podium — the blocky structure at the bottom of a tower than normally redirects windy downdrafts away from pedestrians.

It’s the first tower proposal this council has voted against. In 2009, the last council voted against a 34-storey tower proposed for Bellamy Road.

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/loc...veloper-pitches-30-storeys-on-two-single-lots

The condo that couldn't: city council votes down first tower in eight years
Breaking a eight year streak, Edmonton city council finally said ‘no’ to new tower, by voting down a 28-storey building proposed for the Oliver neighbourhood.

The 8-3 vote (two councillors were absent) Wednesday night marks the first time city council has turned down a tower since 2009.

“It’s regrettable. I don’t like saying no to a tower because there would be that many more people living downtown,” said Coun. Scott Mckeen, adding he likes the design of the building.

“But we don’t want to create an un-level playing field. We have to say to the business community that we’re going to be consistent.”

City planners argued developer Westrich Pacific’s proposal was too large for the spot, had no wind protection and offered little for pedestrians.

While the building would have featured two townhomes at streetlevel, one side would have been an uninterrupted 90-metre wall just three metres from the sidewalk. This departs from city policy, that calls for two-to four-storey podiums to break up the wind and make the building more friendly at street level.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/edmont...-city-council-oliver-tower-yes-no-debate.html

City council rejects 30-storey tower proposal for Oliver

 

[Daveography]

Additional interesting comments from EDC on June 20:

B.4. 20:30 Oliver – Grandin Tower Rezoning
Stantec — Om Joshi
9918 & 9922 - 111 Street NW
Sites legally described as:
Lots 62 and 63, Block 11, Plan NB

Without objection, the Committee has determined the following:
On March 21, 2017, the Edmonton Design Committee recommended support for this application with a number of conditions. Upon receipt of this second Administrative Walk-on submission, dated June 5, 2017, the Committee notes the following conditions have not been sufficiently met:
● Provide a more appropriate residential articulation of townhouse facades
● Identify potential off-site improvements as a part of density bonusing in DC zoning

Further to our correspondence to the Applicant on May 4, 2017, the Committee continues to be very concerned that the proposed tower setbacks along the south property line significantly limits development potential on the adjacent property (in order to provide a 20m or otherwise acceptable tower separation), and furthermore sets a problematic precedent for the development of towers on small parcels in this neighbourhood.

https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/documents/PDF/EDCMinutesJune20.pdf

 

[archited]

Further to our correspondence to the Applicant on May 4, 2017, the Committee continues to be very concerned that the proposed tower setbacks along the south property line significantly limits development potential on the adjacent property (in order to provide a 20m or otherwise acceptable tower separation), and furthermore sets a problematic precedent for the development of towers on small parcels in this neighbourhood.

No Kidding!

 

[Daveography]

Back to EDC Feb. 20:
B.2. 16:30
Grandin Tower 1 (Rezoning)
9918 & 9922 111 Street NW
Sylvia Summers - Stantec

https://www.edmonton.ca/city_govern...onDesignCommittee_February_20_2018_Agenda.pdf

I might actually attend this meeting, never sat in on one yet.

 

[Daveography]

At the EDC meeting. Will be updating this post as they present.

Tower reduced to 23s. Now 75.5m.
Acquired lane and will use it as part of the site.
Unit count +5
Parking reduced to .7/unit
Greater distance from 111St.
Outdoor amenity space on the south side now (moved from rooftop), and landscaping. Space from the 4s apartment nearly doubled (16 to 34 ft)
Visual design has been updated a bit. Hoping to snag some images.

Architect is Chris Dikeakos Architecture. http://www.dikeakos.com

Here's what I was able to snap from the developers on their way out:

 

[archited]

I don't recall height being the problem with this proposal.

 

[Daveography]

@archited Maybe not, but they could be throwing a bone to improve their chances.

 

[MetroEd]

even with the airport gone, it seems there are some that are just afraid of tall buildings!

 

[Daveography]

@MetroEd Context is important. Not all sites are great for height, and height isn't always needed for density.