Ripe for redevelopment: Downtown Edmonton dealership plans to move

For nearly 70 years, Edmonton Motors has been a mainstay on Jasper Avenue, but soon the dealership will be moving on.

“We’ve been at our current location since 1951,” said Harrison Wolfe, the vice president and general manager of the business.

The business will be relocating to the west end where other suburban dealerships are clustered.

That will leave about two acres right on Jasper Ave. ripe for redevelopment.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily to say that a dealership won’t work downtown. It’s what’s better for business.”

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Edmonton Motors sits on two separate pieces of land, split by 115 Street; the properties are held by two separate owners, according to the Oliver Community League, which is aware of what’s happening.

“It’s been on our radar for about six months, I’d say,” explained Lisa Brown, the president of the league.

“I would say one of our biggest concerns with that particular site is because it’s on the south side of Jasper Avenue, that we could see some issues with lack of sunlight penetration, depending on what’s built.”

In recent years, the league has been concerned about projects that, for example, are too tall and don’t fit in with the community.

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The community league is in contact by an owner related to one of the sites Edmonton Motors sits on, and hopes to be involved with what’s planned.

A worry moving forward is a stretch of Jasper Ave. that could become dormant.

“For sure, we would be not surprised to see a rezoning happening, at least on one of the sites, and then not have any actual movement for a long time,” Brown said.

“It’s a bittersweet moment. We’ve always enjoyed being in downtown,” Wolfe said.

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The move away from central Edmonton is expected to take place by next January.