The first major development has gone up downtown spurred by the creation of Warehouse Park.
The 36-storey mixed-use tower called “The Parks” is ready for tenants to move in.
It features studio, one, two and three bedroom units designed to attract people from all walks of life.
“We are seeing a number of students, a number of professionals and people that want to have that urban lifestyle,” said Bill Blais, president of Maclab Development Group.
All 363 units in the tower have balconies, but for some the appeal is the $45 million dollar park being built next to it.
“They only bought that land and started planning those projects because Warehouse Park was coming,” said Puneeta McBryan, executive director of the Downtown Business Association.
“Nobody was going to do that and build a building bordering a sea of gravel parking lots,” she added.
Construction began in July 2024 for Warehouse Park located between 106 Street to 108 Street and Jasper Avenue to 102 Avenue.
At 4.4 acres in size, the park will be about the size of three NFL football fields.
“This is absolutely the single biggest positive development that we’ve had in quite a long time in downtown,” said Cheryl Probert, Edmonton downtown community league president.
The urban park, in the heart of the city is being designed for year round use.
It will feature a pavilion for community use, gathering space and fire pits outside the pavilion, green space, a basketball court, exercise area and playground as well as an off-leash dog park.
Probert has been watching the development take place.
She said it will give people who may not be able to navigate the stairs into the river valley access to green space.
The park and pavilion will also be a hub for events.
“Whether it’s arts festivals, performance festivals, could be anything around environment and conservation, there are a million things that could happen down here. We’d love to see all of it,” Probert said.
Warehouse Park is expected to be complete and ready for use by the end of this year.
It’s hoped the park will encourage more people to live downtown, in turn supporting local businesses and improving safety in the core.
The Parks tower is just the beginning for Maclab Development Group, which has plans to add another building in the future.
“There’s going to be more and more activity and it’s going to be more and more in that housing space for downtown Edmonton as we start to fill in some of these parking lots,” Blais said.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson
