EDMONTON – The Stantec Tower under construction in the city’s Ice District is being hailed as an exciting, important step forward for Edmonton — beating out Calgary’s towers to become the tallest building in the country outside Toronto.
“Suddenly to go from third highest outside Toronto to number one just gives you that feeling that Edmonton’s really going somewhere,” said Downtown Business Association executive director Jim Taylor. “With the economy the way it is, knowing we’re sort of in a bubble in the downtown because these projects aren’t oil and gas related…This is just great news.”
The design for the Stantec Tower was unveiled last August as a 62-storey mixed-use tower, but has since grown to 66 storeys.
“It’s 66 storeys of useable space and then 67 to 69 are mechanical floors,” said Taylor. “Already the Stantec building meant a great deal for us, because a 62-storey building in Edmonton when our highest is about 36 with mechanical floors–-that’s a huge leap–so this was a very important building.”
WAM Development Group is the owner and developer of the 250.8-metre building, working in conjunction with the Katz Group. CEO Daryl Katz said at the time the design was unveiled the tower would benefit Edmonton for generations.
“The building is going to be an absolutely exceptional piece of architecture and an extraordinary addition to Edmonton’s skyline,” he said.
The mixed-use tower will be the new headquarters for Stantec, an engineering and architecture consulting company and will stand in the arena district, just west of the Bell Tower.
Taylor said it will be a combination of offices and condo units, and is expected to open in late 2018.
With files from Slav Kornik
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