Posts from July 2015

Rendering of the completed public plaza.

In early spring our blog focused on the revitalization projects in Edmonton’s core, highlighting three of downtown’s new up and upcoming districts, including the Brewery District, the Warehouse District, and the formerly titled ‘Edmonton Arena District’. Today we are focusing on the arena district’s shiny new public image and all the amenities the area will have to offer in the coming years.

An aggressive new public rebranding campaign is in full swing, complete with a flashy new name ‘Ice District’ and of course the corresponding hashtag (#icedistric), dubbed so by Katz Group Chairman Daryl Katz. The new name and image was agreed upon but the Katz group, stakeholders, and focus groups, and has thus far been well received by Edmontonians, who are more than aware of the city’s longtime associations with the cold and winter.

The Edmonton Journal reports that Bob Nicholson, CEO and vice-chair of the Oilers Entertainment Group, had this to say about the new branding that he has put his support behind:

“The Ice District really represents winter, winter sport and hockey. When you look at Edmonton, we’re a northern city. Ice District – it’s crisp and clean and it’s somewhere that people are going to come in the middle of winter”

Street view of Rogers Place

He goes on to explain the move away from the area’s former moniker, “When you look at the Edmonton Arena District, it was about the arena. No question, Rogers Arena is a big part of that but Ice District is about the whole district.”

The chilly sentiment resonates with city council, who aren’t looking to distance the city from such a reputation but rather embrace our climate, as voice by Councillor Scott McKeen. “It does refer to our winterness,” he said. “Council has really been pushing the idea that we do not have to apologize for being a winter city and we need to learn ways to honour and exploit that. I love that it ties in with that and it’s not a corporate name.”

The $2.5 billion expansion will encompass 25 acres of the Edmonton city centre and the initial stages, including the arena itself will be complete in fall of 2016, which second and third stages following suit in the years to come, and a full completion estimated for 2020.

The following promotional video has been used to build buzz and excitement for the many new projects currently underway for the area:

The staggering list of future developments include but are not limited to:

• Rogers Place –A 20,000 person sports and entertainment venue. The most advanced in North America.
• Grand Villa Edmonton Casino– Vegas worthy gaming, dining, and entertainment
• Cinaplex UltraAVX and VIP Cinemas
• State of the art office towers –both achieving LEED Gold Standards, one will be Edmonton’s tallest and will encompass 1.3 Million square feet of office space.
• Luxury hotel – touted as ‘Downtown’s first four-star hotel in 30 years” it will house 360 suites, a luxuy pool, terrace, fitness amenities, and a 24,000 square foot ballroom
• Public plaza -50,000 square feet of community space for concerts, festivals, skating, seasonal events and programming
• Premium residences
• Macewan LRT station

The promotional website icedistrict.com lauds the project as “a development fuelled by the optimism of what Edmonton can be”, describing the area as “one of the most advanced sports and entertainment venues in North America, a humming public plaza, sophisticated living and AAA office space all in one location. A place to cheer, a place to celebrate, a place you’ll never forget.”

Strathearn Drive Home in Edmonton

According to reports released by EREB earlier this month, the most notable real estate sale statistic has been June’s increase in year-over-year sales. This is the first instance we have seen this year of monthly reported sales eclipsing those of 2014.

While June of 2014 saw a reported 1961 residences sold in the Edmonton census metropolitan area, this year the market saw 2008 homes sold,  a small increase of 2.4%. The breakdown of residential property styles sold shows an overwhelming popularity of duplex/row houses, of which sales increased over 11% from this time last year, followed by single family dwellings at 2.1%, and finally condominiums with the smallest change at 1.6%. The largest statistical change reported for the month of June were the increase in sales from the previous month of May 2015 showing a 13% growth.

However, though EREB acknowledges that this shows clear market growth, the fact we are seeing this year over year increase so late in 2015 is largely indicative of an overall slowing of the market, which we are only now seeing the results of.

“The reality of what we are seeing in the market is that the slight hesitation from buyers that came with the drop in oil prices is lessening. Edmonton has not been hit nearly as bad as what many predicted and buyers are becoming more confident that our market won’t plummet. This renewed confidence coupled with low mortgage rates and a healthy selection means that people are realizing that this is still a good time to buy.” Explains REALTORS® Association of Edmonton President Geneva Tetreault.

Inventory, which so heavily influenced late spring and early summer market numbers, remains high with 7177 listings on the market at the end of June, though likely due to higher june sales figures, is still less than the 7303 reported at the end of May 2015. Inventory continues to remain higher in year over year comparisons, up 7.7%.

As far as pricing, which has seemingly been unaffected by high inventory numbers, we’ve seen only a 0.8% drop from the month previous for all residential listing costs. Single family homes have seen a 2% increase in year over year figures, currently averaging $444, 862. The same 2% increase was seen in duplex/rowhouses, despite their rising popularity, while condominiums are showing no change at $255, 662 on average. 

“We finally saw prices take the expected small dip month over month that we have been waiting to see due to lower sales and higher inventory. Prices still remain higher than the same time last year and with sales ramping up again and inventory starting to settle, we likely won’t see our prices drop much more than this,” explains Tetreault.

Lastly there has been a slight increase in average days on market; residential properties in general spent an average 49 days on the market. Condominiums had the highest report DOM at 52, followed by the 50 days for Duplex/rowhouses, and 46 for single family homes (up from 43). These increases have likely been influenced by the combination of sale prices and inventory surpluses.

“People move when their lifestyle warrants a change. This will always be true. There are always buyers and sellers, no matter what the market looks like or what analysts predict. REALTORS® are here to help you decide what move is best for you.” Concludes Tetrault.

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