Local infrastructure projects should spur redevelopment, panellists say

Bonnie Doon and other malls along new LRT routes offer strong redevelopment possibilities, but the companies involved will need money and patience, a commercial real estate specialist says.

Many mature neighbourhoods with aging populations and homes have shopping centres that could be repurposed to provide the modern housing and amenities tenants want, says Jonas Locke, Western Canadian vice-president for Altus Group.

“There’s a natural integration between retail and residential … These spots can benefit from that. They have retailers that want to be in that location, but there’s too much land to just do retail,” he told an Edmonton Real Estate Forum panel last week.

“I think these sites will be highly densified sites in the future.”

The 12-hectare Bonnie Doon Mall recently outlined plans to create 6,000 multi-family housing units over 30 years.

The property next to the 83 Street Valley Line LRT corridor would also include retail, offices, parks and open spaces.

Locke expects city planners will allow higher density buildings at such locations to help the LRT succeed.

While these projects are promising, he cautioned they ’re unproven in Edmonton.

“Developers of these large sites will have to be patient and be very well-capitalized … Our city is built in a lot of ways as a driving city. People will have to get used to this concept. These developments will be tricky in the initial stages.”

Olympia Trencevski, general manager of Oxford Properties Group’s downtown Edmonton portfolio, said it spent $41.3 million renovating Edmonton City Centre mall downtown.

The work was spurred by the area’s revitalization following construction of Rogers Place, but will also help attract some of the 120,000 passengers a month the Valley Line will drop at the LRT station outside the centre’s doors, she said.

“We have to create a ‘wow’ and delightful experiences, which includes interior improvements to … hopefully create a destination where you have these uses that attract you.”

Bob Walker, chief executive of Tangent Project Management Ltd. and a former Northlands director, said he thinks the Northlands site would be a great location for transit-oriented development.

The Coliseum is closed, the horse racing track is scheduled to shut down and the Expo Centre is being operated by the Edmonton Economic Development Corp., he said.

“My opinion would be in two years Edmonton Northlands as we know it will be gone. The City of Edmonton will take over the functions of the board. It’s sad to see. This institution will be gone completely.”