Katz Group pitches plan for next phase of Ice District north of Rogers Place

Ice District officials are pitching a series of roughly 30-storey towers with park space and rooftop gardens as the next phase of development near Rogers Place.

Initial plans were presented to nearby residents Tuesday evening, one of the first steps toward a rezoning application for council approval early next year.

The development would have a mix of commercial, residential and retail elements, with neighbourhood streets designed to slow traffic and better connect the northside neighbourhood of Central McDougall with downtown. Towers would be up to 150 metres, about 20 metres taller than the nearby Edmonton Tower.

“I’m not concerned with density, I’m only concerned with the architectural merit,” said Warren Champion, a resident and member of the Central McDougall community league who stopped in to see the plans.

The developer won’t say exactly how many units it plans to build until it applies for a development permit, but Champion said he expects it to more than double Central McDougall’s population.

Good design will increase a sense of community, he said. With poor design, “then you just have crowding. … Unless the economy goes into the tubes, (Katz Group and Ice District planners) don’t leave me with the impression they’ll do something cheaply.”

City planner Travis Pawlyk said the goal is to better connect the neighbourhood with downtown, currently separated by almost three blocks of gravel parking lots.

Engineering student David Ulliac, a nearby resident, said he came by to check if the MacDonald Lofts would be preserved, and was also wondering how the homeless population will be treated. Boyle Street Community Services is just outside the site: “It’s kind of worlds colliding,” he said.

The MacDonald Lofts, a fourstorey heritage building, is slated to be preserved and restored, but the Katz Group has not decided what to use it for yet. No one from the Ice District was available to comment.