Business leaders call on governments to invest in downtown Edmonton

October 15, 2024 Canuck

Edmonton business leaders say rejuvenating the city’s downtown core will take about $500 million over 10 years with commitment from all levels of government.

A coalition of groups presented a downtown investment plan Tuesday, outlining specific short-, medium- and long-term actions to attract people to live, work and spend leisure time downtown.

The report highlights areas that need work and investment: sidewalks, intersections, parks, bike racks, streetlights and bus stops.

“This is no small feat, and this is no small plan,” Puneeta McBryan, CEO of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Also steering the plan are BILD Edmonton Metro, the Downtown Revitalization Coalition, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, and commercial real estate group, NAIOP Edmonton.

More offices have become vacant, which has led to a drop in tax revenue from downtown properties, said Jason Syvixay, vice-president of BILD Edmonton Metro.

“This shift really results because of the office sector vacancies, which stands at 24 per cent, which is one of the highest in the nation,” Syvixay said at the news conference.

The downtown used to contribute 10 per cent to the municipal tax base, but that number is around 6.4 per cent as of 2024, Syvixay said.

The City of Edmonton’s finance department confirmed that revenue from downtown properties makes up roughly 6 per cent of the tax base this year, a decline from previous years.

“Downtown office and hotel assessments dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning that the downtown paid a smaller proportion of the overall property tax base than they used to,” Cate Watt, branch manager of assessment and taxation, said in an email Tuesday.

Downtown assessments have not fully recovered, Watt added.

About 12,000 people live downtown, while the coalition believes a rejuvenated downtown should accommodate about 25,000.

“We need to double the population,” Syvixay said.

Specific investments

In the short-term, the report says $3 million is needed to expand the City of Edmonton’s cleanliness initiatives.

From civic and provincial coffers, $25 million to redesign and rejuvenate downtown LRT entrances and $20 million to revitalize and complete Jasper Avenue’s streetscape from 100th to 109th Street.

It say $25 million is needed from the province and federal governments to create 24/7 community hubs or crisis centres to relieve pressure on emergency centres and first responders.

Anne Stevenson, Ward O-day’min councillor, said the suggestions align with the city’s responsibility to invest in core services, such as the city centre optimization cleaning program.

The private sector has and could continue to participate in rejuvenating core areas, Stevenson said in an interview.

“We’ve seen a great commitment to investing in, in existing buildings, to improving that vibrancy, sense of connection to the street,” Stevenson said. “And that’s one area that I think this report could have highlighted is that there is that partnership.”

Investments need to be balanced with future increases in property taxes, Stevenson said.

The Alberta government says it’s supporting the capital city through key economic and infrastructure projects.

In an email to CBC news, the municipal affairs ministry press secretary, Heather Jenkins, said investment includes $337 million over two years in Local Government Fiscal Framework funding.

That includes $75 million to develop MacEwan University’s new School of Business, $43 million planning funding for the Advanced Skills Centre at NAIT and $12.8 million to help the Winspear Centre expand and renovate.

Edmonton not unique

Mary Rowe, president and the chief executive officer of the Canadian Urban Institute, said downtowns across Canada and the United States are challenged.

“We’re seeing patterns of different kinds of movement, patterns of fewer people coming into the office than once we’re coming in, different kinds of usages, different kinds of uses of transit.”

The way people use public space has changed, she said.

“I would say what we have is a complex, complicated, perfect storm of a whole bunch of factors that are contributing to making downtowns more challenging.”

“There’s no silver bullet. There’s no single fix. It needs to be multi-pronged and steadfast and a combination of common sense and compassion and investment to support the economy of the downtown and the social life of the downtown.”

The coalition says they consulted about 40 organizations, many outside the business community, from the Winspear Centre, Citadel Theatre, Edmonton Public Library and Edmonton City Centre.

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