Province, city, Oilers ownership group teaming up on event park, new Ice District housing

Nicholas Frew · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 5:32 PM EST | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

The province, the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Oilers ownership radical are nearing an statement that would wage for an lawsuit park beside Rogers Place and thousands of new housing units northbound of Ice District.

The wealth would besides wage for the demolition of the Coliseum, the Oilers erstwhile location arena.

The Alberta authorities has signed a memorandum of knowing with the metropolis and OEG Sports and Entertainment, signalling its willingness to determination up with the task portion negotiations connected the woody continue.

"I'm precise assured that we volition [reach an agreement]," Premier Danielle Smith said Friday at a quality league astatine the instrumentality parkland successful Ice District.

"Everyone progressive understands the benefits of revitalizing downtown Edmonton and the onshore nearby. All of this enactment volition pb to amended nationalist safety, much affordable lodging and much abstraction for fun."

The 3 large projects — a caller lawsuit parkland beside Rogers Place, 2,500 caller lodging units successful the Village astatine Ice District, and demolishing the Coliseum and improving the Exhibition Lands country — are expected to outgo a combined $408.2 million.

The memorandum of knowing says the lawsuit parkland would outgo astir $250 cardinal and the lodging different $68 million. Another $90 cardinal would beryllium earmarked for tearing down the Coliseum and improving the Exhibition Lands area.

Municipal officials successful Edmonton were thrilled to larn past week that the provincial fund included $106 cardinal implicit 3 years for those projects.

But according to authorities quality releases and officials who spoke astatine Friday's quality conference, if the fund passes the legislature and the 3 parties scope a woody earlier the extremity of August, the provincial authorities volition walk $183.4 cardinal connected the projects — astir 40 per cent of the full cost.

The immense bulk of the provincial dollars would beryllium in grants, but immoderate would travel done the Edmonton Capital City Downtown Community Revitalization Levy. Community revitalization levies fto municipalities get against aboriginal spot taxation revenues to assistance wage for infrastructure development.

The City of Edmonton would screen different 3rd of the wide cost, paying $137.8 cardinal total, mostly done the levy, according to a quality release.

OEG Sports and Entertainment would wage $87 cardinal full for the lawsuit parkland and Ice District housing. The institution is not contributing to the Coliseum's demolition, the merchandise said.

"This memorandum of knowing reinforces our corporate tendency to physique a thriving downtown," Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said during the quality conference.

"Our downtown is simply a large economical driver, but it is besides a neighbourhood that deserves to beryllium an affordable and amenity-rich community."

A representation and conceptual images amusement the lodging volition beryllium built implicit respective metropolis blocks, conscionable northbound of the arena, and diagnostic a greenish space.

The lawsuit parkland volition diagnostic respective hockey rinks and a signifier for performers, each nether a canopy, images show.

The developments are portion of Phase 2 of OEG's Ice District development, which aims to pull radical to the country each time year-round, not conscionable for hockey games and concerts, said Tim Shipton, OEG's enforcement vice-president of outer affairs.

The lodging volition see antithetic types of units to conscionable the needs of Edmonton's increasing population, Shipton said.