Developers seek financial incentives to spur downtown housing construction
A tug-of-war over downtown development saw city council and advocates for property developers trade stances over the best way to spur home construction in Edmonton's core.
What ends up happening could depend on who blinks first in the chicken-or-egg scenario.
The City of Edmonton would like to see more housing built downtown, in part to spur recovery, but developers say without municipal financial help, core apartment construction projects are a bad investment.
Advocates for the industry are asking the city to create a financial incentive program because of relatively low rents, and high construction costs and property taxes.
Puneeta McBryan, chief executive officer of Edmonton's Downtown Business Association, told the executive committee while tens of thousands of new units are being built across the city, there have been no housing starts downtown in the last two years.
"If we don’t do anything to make sure that residential development happens, we are building a donut city," McBryan said, adding that while construction costs in Edmonton are about the same as those in Calgary and Victoria, rents on finished housing in the latter two cities "are double or, in some cases, triple."
"The math simply doesn’t work right now for downtown Edmonton," she said. "The land is too expensive, the property taxes are too high, and then building costs and everything else."
Kalen Anderson, the director of the Urban Development Institute - Edmonton Metro, which lobbies governments on behalf of the land development industry, said the city's downtown is struggling mostly due to increasing commercial vacancy rates as well as "a lack of private sector financial viability to support new residential development."
"This continued devaluation of our assets downtown will erode the tax revenues for the whole city and will inevitably place increased pressure on the rest of the community to recover that burden," she said.
City staff estimate a $40-per-square-foot grant could help build an additional 1,000 units downtown, costing taxpayers nearly $14 million.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, speaking to media following Wednesday morning's session, said the city needs "to make sure that we are very prudent in using tax dollars to be effective as much as possible" before it can commit to an incentive plan.
"I hear from the (construction) industry that more incentives are required, but we are also in a very tough financial situation," Sohi told reporters, adding the city needs to address financing services such as transit, snow and ice removal, and staff salaries.
He said he'd like to see the industry focus on infill and downtown growth, and "commit not to continue to grow outwards."
"I think that will reduce pressures on city finances," Sohi said.
The executive committee delayed a decision on financial incentives for downtown development to city council's meeting on April 2 so the full council could ask questions and vote on the proposal.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.