ANOTHER BRICK IN THE MALL?
Report questions LRT-related infill, proposes upping density in retail areas
Angelika Matson looks for proximity to transit and a grocery store when she’s hunting for a place to live. A new report to city council says malls, not LRT stations, might be the best places to promote mixed-use residential development.
Edmonton’s best opportunity to create new walkable, mixed-use districts isn’t around LRT stations, but around malls, according to an industry report.
Intelligence House and Colliers International identified six malls that have spent the most money upgrading since 2009: Londonderry, Kingsway, Southgate, Northgate/North Town, Capilano and Westmount. The report was commissioned by the City of Edmonton and released in December.
Of course, an existing mall on a new LRT line is the very best opportunity, said the authors.
But a site with a grocery store, movie theatre and other commercial amenities with a good road connection and a bus terminal has greater appeal than an LRT station without shopping, they wrote.
“You live, work and play. It’s all there,” Kevin Petterson, senior vice-president for Colliers International and co-author of the report, said Wednesday.
“Let’s capitalize on infrastructure we’ve already got,” he said, suggesting the same re-zoning and other incentives council is looking at around LRT stations should be applied to malls. New towers can go on the mall site, with new zoning for medium density in the immediate area.
You live, work and play. It’s all there. Let’s capitalize on infrastructure we’ve already got.
Mall owners know the market is changing. Many are already trying to find ways to incorporate local boutique stores, add residential towers and open them up to the community, he said. There are ways to address the unfriendliness of major roads and massive parking lots.
“We’re talking about long-term vision,” he said. “That’s the way our city should be growing.”
In some ways, the observation turns council’s planning work on its head.
With the LRT, Blatchford redevelopment and the Coliseum lands, much of the focus has been on how to create mixed-use, higher-density communities where little exists.
This recommendation calls for council to encourage more development where it’s already happening.
It speaks to what renter Angelika Matson is looking for: “Honestly, when I rent, I look up where the malls are. That’s where you find your grocery stores. That’s where you live the rest of your life when you’re not at work.”
Matson, 25, lives in the Oliver neighbourhood. She’d like a larger home with either a backyard or park nearby so she can have a dog, somewhere she can get off the bus, pick up milk and walk home.
Developer Greg Christenson is trying to make that happen at the Westmount Shopping Centre. His 13-storey seniors’ complex is under construction across the avenue.
“You regrow urban village by urban village,” said Christenson, who calls the mall area an example of what the seniors’ home industry terms a “naturally occurring retirement community.”
It has every amenity — a park, grocery store, bus terminal, public library, public swimming and planned recreation centre, high school, restaurants and other retail. A developer just needs to add housing.
It needs better pedestrian connections across the large parking lots, but mall owners have plans
to improve that, he said. If the city would create more flexible zoning and ease parking regulations, they could also add housing on the site itself.
The Intelligence House and Colliers International report was prepared for Edmonton’s next wave of infill revisions. They evaluated how expensive infill is, suggesting many families can’t afford the single-family homes they want. Townhouse construction will help, and more people are likely to choose apartment units in mature neighbourhoods if they are close to amenities.
It’s not yet clear how the city will respond to this industry recommendation, treating the best mall sites like it would LRT stations.
Peter Ohm, head of city planning, sounded a little skeptical.
“There’s still a lot to be said that the market will come where there’s better transportation opportunities,” he said. “It’s not just the shopping experience, it’s a complete range of things (residents are) looking for.”
The city is in the middle of planning the next steps to encourage infill.
Petterson and other consultants will be involved to determine how these more intensive, walkable areas could be achieved.