What do you think of this project?

  • Total voters
    46
Hey, perhaps city council likes looking at this abomination of a prominent site? I mean it is only one of the most expensive commercial streets in Canada. Given that they are fortunate enough every day to walk out of city hall and get to stare straight down at the Ever Given shipping container library they might even like the short hop to the 101st bunker. Oh, and when Iveson is done his term, perhaps his retirement plan is to give outsiders a tour of downtown starting with the new Shaw Edmonton homeless shelter, the Ever Given library stuck in the Suez Churchill square, the multiple unenforced Regency sites/ponds with a bonus tour of the weekly vandalized funicular!
 
I recall that, due to LRT construction, Regency, if they wanted to, had to choose demolition on the BMO site before the commencement of rail construction or wait until after the rail line was complete for any kind of onsite effort. They chose to demolish choosing the earlier timeline. The City was not going to allow construction of the site concurrent with the LRT build-out. And the COVID and the delays in the LRT construction caused their site to sit idle (today's scenario). So I imagine that Regency is front-and-centre for the tower tax incentive and will be ready to start this year.
 
CaptainBL said:
Hey, perhaps city council likes looking at this abomination of a prominent site? I mean it is only one of the most expensive commercial streets in Canada. Given that they are fortunate enough every day to walk out of city hall and get to stare straight down at the Ever Given shipping container library they might even like the short hop to the 101st bunker. Oh, and when Iveson is done his term, perhaps his retirement plan is to give outsiders a tour of downtown starting with the new Shaw Edmonton homeless shelter, the Ever Given library stuck in the Suez Churchill square, the multiple unenforced Regency sites/ponds with a bonus tour of the weekly vandalized funicular!
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To be fair, as much as Iverson isn't the best mayor we could hope for, the weak mayor system that we have here is probably the biggest responsible for the current state of affairs. A strong mayor would have the power to actually steer the city's wheels towards a better path, going over the Council's head. Especially for downtown and other central areas, having a mostly suburban dominated City Council ends up creating so many barriers that is hard to blame the mayor (any mayor, not just Iverson) for the lack of progress.

archited said:
I recall that, due to LRT construction, Regency, if they wanted to, had to choose demolition on the BMO site before the commencement of rail construction or wait until after the rail line was complete for any kind of onsite effort. They chose to demolish choosing the earlier timeline. The City was not going to allow construction of the site concurrent with the LRT build-out. And the COVID and the delays in the LRT construction caused their site to sit idle (today's scenario). So I imagine that Regency is front-and-centre for the tower tax incentive and will be ready to start this year.
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I really hope you're right. We need to see developments in DT, other than the Ice District. If well executed and priced reasonably, this would be an awesome asset to bring residents and movement to this area, outside of business hours.
 
archited said:
I recall that, due to LRT construction, Regency, if they wanted to, had to choose demolition on the BMO site before the commencement of rail construction or wait until after the rail line was complete for any kind of onsite effort. They chose to demolish choosing the earlier timeline. The City was not going to allow construction of the site concurrent with the LRT build-out. And the COVID and the delays in the LRT construction caused their site to sit idle (today's scenario). So I imagine that Regency is front-and-centre for the tower tax incentive and will be ready to start this year.
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I am not so optimistic here, but I really hope you are right on this.
 
Clearshades said:
Weak leadership is minor in compared to unqualified personals

I would prefer they sell this lot to more capable developer.
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My point as to weak/strong mayors is a reference to the actual system that governs our city administration, not the individuals (we need these too). The soft power wielded by Edmonton's mayor is miniscule and gives little to zero incentive for any mayor to step up and pick some good fights, because he's largely ceremonial and just another council member.
We need a better, younger and fresher council and to restructure the relationship mayor-council to give more power to the mayor's office (like any successful major city does). Even a mediocre but well intended mayor with power will yield better results than having the Urban Planner of the century without it.

I agree with you that this lot is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much for Regency's plate. I'd rather see it with Pangman or even Procura.
 
ChazYEG said:
Even a mediocre but well intended mayor with power will yield better results than having the Urban Planner of the century without it.
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This is a good point. Vancouver seems to have a party like system and when Gregor Robertson was mayor, he was able to make some significant changes ( good or not so good) because he had the support he needed. His party was Vision Vancouver and enough councillors under that banner were elected. So I guess it wasn't so much that the mayor had more powers, but enough people on council supported the mayor's direction.
At one time in the 70s and 80s I believe, Edmonton had party slates of candidates with a specific vision. In fact Jan Reimer belonged to one called U.R.G.E - Urban Reform Group of Edmonton. Several members of URGE were elected at one time. Not sure when that kind of party affiliation ended.
 
archited said:
Edmonton has a City Manager -- that's the "running the corporation" side of the equation; the Mayor should be a visionary.
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Problem is: he's too much of a figurehead with almost no influence on what happens. We need a whole council of visionaries, with this weak Mayor system. to make things work.
 
KreationYEG said:
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Mr. Robot deleted it...
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archited said:
Edmonton has a City Manager -- that's the "running the corporation" side of the equation; the Mayor should be a visionary.
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Visionary requires knowledge for without it you can't open your mind to vission. People who are wanting to lead my city should have historical knowledge of problems and victories. We don't need spokesmodel! That is playfully fun fashion. This is a city, a business with highly output of GDP with hundreds of thousands of people requiring it to be optimal for their livelihood. This is maybe why Canada is losing the edge...
 
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