Council approved a massive new re-design for the Century Park area Monday, piloting what developer ProCura calls a new European approach to residential parking.
“We need to get up to date with the times. Having apartments with 24-7 stalls is from the ’70s,” said the developer George Schluessel, describing a shared model where the same stalls can be used by residents, employees and transit park-and-ride users at different times of the day. Normally that’s prohibited by zoning rules.
The 4,000-unit development will be allowed up to 1,125 paid park-and-ride stalls in addition to residential parking, but Schluessel said ProCura will be combining uses to avoid having empty spots. The extra land can be used for amenities, he said, showing initial concept drawings of a 500-unit tower with no parking.
Residents could rely on transit, buy a 24-hour reserved pass or buy a cheaper evening and weekend-only pass for the 1,000-stall central parkade across the street. Tennis courts, a climbing wall and fitness centre would be attached to and under the tower where the parking would otherwise be.
The heated outdoor running track would be on the roof of that complex, and Schluessel dreams of making it like the Nike digital LED track in Manila, Philippines, where runners race a digital ghost of their previous lap. But that track is not required under the zoning approved Monday.
Under the zoning, city officials will re-evaluate how Schluessel’s parking experiment is working each time ProCura applies for a development permit as the site gets built out.
Traffic concerns
Representatives from the nearby Ermineskin Community League spoke in favour of the development, but said they are concerned with traffic and parking. They want a good neighbour agreement that would involve them in continuing to monitor the parking impacts.
“We know there is a problem with parking. We’re already experiencing it,” said Rick Molstad, part of the league’s real estate subcommittee.
League members said many transit users are already parking on residential streets because the existing park-and-ride is too full. Council asked city officials to work with ProCura on the public engagement plan.
As for traffic, “4,000 units here is better than 4,000 units spread all over south Edmonton,” said Ward 10 Coun. Michael Walters, after asking questions about the capacity of 23 Avenue and 111 Street.
Site history
This redesign replaces a 2005 plan that stalled when the 2008 economic downturn hit. The former mall site beside the Century Park LRT station sat mostly vacant since, except for four towers on the far east end and a large park-and-ride facility on land the city leases.
But Schluessel said work has already restarted on site and the plan is to put the next tower out to tender immediately. It will face the new pedestrian-oriented main street — a park-like space with a 10-metre wide landscaped median that will become the new focal point of the neighbourhood.
“The dream is a shared space where we don’t have curbs,” said Stantec planner Kim Petrin, saying the street design will be enough to slow cars down.
ProCura is hoping for a street lined with restaurants and shops, with space for an art walk and for children to climb and play, she said, pointing to San Jose’s Santana Row as an example.
The main street replaces the lake, the main attraction in ProCura’s original plan.