What will new arena mean for downtown Edmonton?

EDMONTON- The deal reached between the City and the Katz Group on the downtown arena Wednesday afternoon, continues to have Edmontonians talking.

With people both for and against the agreement, the debate continues on whether or not the City got a good deal.

“For both sides it’s a 35 year decision. So, I think that through that process both sides had to do their due diligence and think of what the ramifications for the agreement were,” explained Dan Mason, a professor of sport management at the University of Alberta. “I think that both sides probably feel that they’re giving up a bit and both sides feel as though they’re gaining a lot and I think that gives you the sense that it’s a fair agreement between the two parties.”

Throughout the arena saga, city council stressed the importance of what a new arena located in the downtown core could mean for renewal in the area.

Mason believes when it comes to this deal, both sides wanted to see more people spending time and money downtown.

“Now that the agreement is in place and both sides are comfortable, we need to have the Katz Group try to create as much activity as possible. Because the more activity that goes on there, the more activity that’s generated, then the more the city benefits.”

The Katz Group says now that the arena deal is in place it has plans for further development. However, details on those developments remain limited.

“We’ve issued some renderings as to what we have in mind. We’ve got a development partner that we’re working with but, you know what we had to have first is the basic project. We had to get this arena deal behind us,” Katz Group executive vice president John Karvellas said Wednesday.

Real estate experts say besides the Katz Group, there are numerous other developers itching to get a shovel in the ground downtown, and the arena deal will help solidify the interest in the area.

“I think we’ll see more than one new office tower constructed downtown, and with that comes restaurants and shops and cafes. We will see a hotel built downtown, we may see two. There’s going to be additional development interest that is fueled by the entertainment district,” explained Cory Wosnack, with Avison Young Real Estate who focuses on Edmonton’s office market.

Wosnack says the downtown core has had an increasingly strong commercial real estate market over the past six years, and believes a new arena will only strengthen that.

“The result of (Wednesday’s) announcement is icing on the cake. It takes it to a new level. The energy and the excitement of people that want to be associated with what the entertainment district would bring is going to take Edmonton’s downtown to a whole (other) level.”

Wosnack also believes the arena will bring a new growth and energy to the downtown core.

“10 years ago I was asked often ‘Why would we want to be downtown?’ The question today is ‘Why wouldn’t we want to be downtown?'” explained Wosnack. “People want to be associated with the energy of the city. It happens the energy from this city is going to be seen from the downtown core.”

Only time will tell if the city’s investment results in the renewal council is looking for. If all goes as planned, construction on the site is set to begin late this summer.

With files from Vinesh Pratap, Global News.

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