Developer hopes city will bend to allow tower off Whyte Ave.
Plan touted as affordable, walkable but planners are not convinced
An Edmonton developer hopes to convince councillors to let him build a 16-storey tower just off Whyte Avenue despite opposition from city officials.
Mat McLash’s proposed Mezzo project takes in a parcel of land that includes a parking lot, the Strathcona Presbyterian Church and a house on 81 Avenue. The 16-storey tower would offer up to 209 residential units, including affordable housing run in part as a non-profit and as below-market rate, small apartments.
“It’s diversity, inclusiveness, affordability and walkability,” McLash said Saturday. “If ever there’s an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in our city for affordable housing and walkability, it’s this project, this location and right now, given our economic circumstances.”
There will be four storeys of family housing to potentially boost en- rolment at nearby Queen Alexandra School, he said.
McLash will present his case to rezone the site at an April 18 public hearing, but officials have already stated their opposition in a report headed to city council. They say the character of the project doesn’t fit with the Strathcona Area Redevelopment Plan.
City administration is also concerned about the demolition of the church which is on the city’s inventory of historic resources and the overdevelopment of a parcel in a mature neighbourhood.
McLash said he doesn’t plan to decrease the height of the tower because it’s already been reduced from 20 storeys to address concerns heard at a recent open house. The building was also redesigned to eliminate sun shadow from March to September on the north side of Whyte Avenue, he said. “We’ve done everything we can.” City planners admit that the project meets a handful of policies geared at increasing density in mature neighbourhoods and encouraging pedestrian activity.
But the plans fall short when rezoning to allow for the building’s height was considered.
“The location and size of this site within a tight knit settlement pattern means that even a four-storey building (already allowed by the existing zoning) would not meet this guideline,” reads the report’s note on changing the zoning of the area from CB2 (general business zone) to DC2 (site specific development control provision).
When it was presented to the city’s executive committee in February, proponents assured councillors that the building, which would be situated at 81 Avenue and 105 Street, would be far enough back from Whyte Avenue (82 Avenue) that it would not cast a substantial shadow on neighbouring properties.
Those claims were backed by diagrams included in the report. But comments collected at a public meeting still expressed concern that the building would set a precedent for other similar applications that would be contrary to the Strathcona Area Redevelopment Plan.
Other issues mentioned by neighbours were increased traffic and a change to the heritage character of the neighbourhood. The Edmonton Design Committee also pointed out the shadow of the building would limit the functionality of the rooftop open space of neighbouring properties.