Coast hotel to recast as apartment building

Edmonton will lose a downtown hotel as Coast Edmonton House converts to an apartment building by late next year.

“It’s a business decision by the owners of the building,” said Craig Norris-Jones, vice-president of operations for Coast Hotels and Resorts Canada. “With the increased demand for residential housing in the downtown core and the large suites that the building offers, this change from hotel to residential provides the optimal use of the asset.”

Maclab Enterprises, an Edmonton-based, privately held real-estate development firm, owns the all-suite hotel at 10205 100th Ave. Vancouverbased Coast Hotels has managed the 297-suite property on behalf of Maclab since Jan. 1, 2007.

The conversion takes place in late 2013. Until then, it’s business as usual at the hotel, which has 110 employees.

“We expect that most of the current employees will be able to relocate into either Coast’s existing properties in Edmonton or they may stay with Maclab Enterprises; for example, the maintenance crew,” Norris-Jones said.

A Maclab representative could not be reached for comment.

According to Maclab’s website, the company also owns the Coast Fraser Tower Hotel in Yellowknife, Tekarra Lodge in Jasper and Campus Tower Suite Hotel in Edmonton.

Coast operates a hotel in Sherwood Park and another in downtown Edmonton.

“Edmonton is an important market for Coast Hotels and we expect to have some announcements about our future in Edmonton pretty quickly,” Norris-Jones said.