Edmonton Arena District

[R90S]

Hello!



Has anyone purchased or plan to purchase an investment within that projected 1 mile (1.6 km) sphere of influence of the probable new Arena District?



The neighborhoods would be:



-Boyle Street

-Downtown

-Central McDougall

-McCauley



Also parts of:

-Oliver

-Queen Mary Park

-Spruce Avenue



I have been shopping in those areas for two years now. This year, inventory for detached homes is very tight in those areas, prices are also a little elevated. I felt compelled to make the plunge now, especially with all the other projects and plans for the surrounding areas.



I purchased in the Little Italy section of McCauley, which is within the zone of influence and has it's own Revitalization plan with The City. Also the Stadium LRT Station and upcoming Kingsway LRT Station are both within walking distance and are 2 different lines. I was also really impressed with the new Commonwealth Community Rec Centre.



These neighborhoods have their issues at present, but are diamonds in the rough in my humble opinion. I can't believe the amount of e-mails I have received that want to rent my property's main level and suite - it's bewildering.



Love to hear your thoughts!



Cheers.

 

[brentdavies]

I agree now is the time to buy, as Edmonton is rising from the bottom and prices are starting to move upward, somewhat slowly.



I hope the arena district will pick up your neighborhoods, but every time I drive by the old arena, The Northlands Coliseum on 118 ave and Wayne Gretzty Drive, there is very little evidence of neighborhood improvement over the 30 years of the Coliseum. One hotel was built. Same in Calgary around the Saddledome. Now that the land around the Saddledome is now cheap enough and the properties are past their economic life, new developments are happening, but not due to the arena. Old industries have relocated to new neighborhoods.



Having rented properties for many years in Eastwood, Alberta Ave, and Cromdale, I always had a long list of potential renters, but very few who met my qualifications for renting my properties.



Oliver and Downtown are good. Queen Mary Park and Centeral McDougall have potential due to redevelopment of 105-106 ave corridor. Boyle Street, now the Quarters redevelopment is being pushed by the City, funded by other levels of government. Our clients on outer rim of the quarters will really do well as a result. McCauley is a difficult neighborhood as the community is fighting change.



I have a lot of faith in our current Mayor and city council, but next year is an election year, so anything can happen.

 

[PaulPoulsen]

While I can`t speak with to the impact that the Saddledome had on downtown Calgary, I think the Coliseum contributed to a substantial amount of development in the Edmonton area. Unfortunately, the residents in the surrounding neighbourhoods aren`t the ones that have benefited from said development.



The Coliseum opened in 1974. In 1978, the Coliseum LRT station was built and in 1984, Northlands opened the Agricom (and upgraded it again in 2009). The Spectrum/Northlands Park was renovated in 1995. And up until I believe the early 2000s, what`s now the large parking lot between 116[sup]th ave and 112th[/sup] ave used to be a residential neighbourhood. In the 35+ years that Edmonton`s had it current arena, Northlands has expanded, renovated, and upgraded numerous times. Sadly, that development was never permitted to spread beyond the Northlands grounds.



I don`t know how much foresight there was when planning the Coliseum but I can tell you that the planning of the new development revolves around kickstarting growth in the downtown core. Will it work? I can`t see why not. REIN talks about buying next to infrastructure like LRT stations and overpasses/interchanges because tenants/owners like the access to transportation that these facilities provide. In my mind, the arena district offers the same benefit but in a different wrapper. Instead of offering easy access to the Henday so you can easy drive to work and big box stores, the EAD will promote easy access to public transit or a high density urban experience that lends itself to walking to your office and shopping.