New design OK’d for Holyrood Gardens
Council endorses vision for towers, but seeks more affordable units in first phase
Regency Developments’ pitch to redevelop Holyrood Gardens won support from city council Monday after an intensive six-month redesign.
The proposal now has a narrow 25-storey tower at the southwest corner of the site and a variety of four- to 12-storey apartments.
“This is a substantially improved design,” said Ward 8 Coun. Ben Henderson as council voted unanimously for the design.
During negotiations with the community, the developer also agreed to include 120 family-sized units within the first four floors of the buildings and doubled its proposed affordable housing contribution. That now means offering 10 per cent of the units to the city for this purpose at 85 per cent of the market rate.
The site is a long, narrow piece of land running beside 85 Street between 90 Avenue and 95 Avenue where the Valley Line LRT is being constructed. Last November, council sent their three-tower proposal back for further work, arguing the building height and width didn’t fit next to a neighbourhood of otherwise singlefamily homes.
Community members thanked the developer for re-engaging. “There have been valuable changes made to this proposal,” said Jaime Forster, chairwoman of the community league’s development committee.
But they asked for further changes to ensure more affordable and family-oriented units would be built in the first phase of construction.
Families are already moving out of the existing market-rate rental townhouses on-site, said Carolyn Skinner, member of the committee and former Edmonton Public Schools principal. With a long construction period anticipated and the majority of family-oriented units in the second phase, it “could mean that Holyrood School could also soon be gone.”
During the debate, Regency Developments agreed to build 20 per cent of its family-oriented units in the first phase, up from 10 per cent.
That’s “significant,” said chief operating officer Raj Dhunna, adding another bedroom increases rent and price, which is not what most tenants are looking for. “Market demand determines what gets built ultimately.”
Council voted down a proposal to force Regency to also ensure 60 of its two-bedroom units include a den. It will be allowed to build up 1,200 new units total.
The new design includes a transit plaza along 93 Avenue, the main corridor for residents accessing the LRT.
City officials said the renderings included in Regency’s package don’t look like much now — the Edmonton Design Committee suggested they’re little more than wide sidewalks. But the text of the zoning bylaw will ensure the final design must be to the satisfaction of the development officer and must go to the Edmonton Design Committee for review.
Regency also narrowed the floor plates of the proposed towers to allow more sunlight to filter through.
Construction will start south of 93 Avenue first. Nothing will happen north of 93 Avenue until at least 2022, said Dhunna. That means it should be able to accommodate existing tenants by moving them around the site rather than ending a lease.