LDA20-0216 Strathcona The Baron Rezoning

There are very few original buildings left in Old Strathcona. They contribute so much to the feel and vibrancy if the area and are part of what makes it unique. We need to protect the few that are left and another high-density development right on Whyte Ave takes away from this and is not needed. Especially a high rise which is in opposition to recent feedback from community members. Please reconsider this development.

I am very opposed to the height of the new proposed building. It is way to tall for a Whyte Avenue building. The character of the street will be completely changed to look more like a downtown rather then a vibrant, cultural, historic center. The height will shade the street and offer little to the style of the area. Parking in the area is also already severely compromised due to the bike lanes. Please do not allow a building of this height to destroy the culture of Whyte Avenue. Edmonton has so few cultural areas for tourists and residents to enjoy. Please do not ruin it with another high rise. I would assume the guidelines were put in place using time and resources of the city and community, so what was the point if it can be changed so fast?

First Jasper Ave, and now Whyte? The charm and history of Edmonton is slowly being erased - by Edmonton. Perhaps the city should consider removing the word 'old' from the moniker 'Old Strathcona' and the city should be renamed 'Everytown.'

I think it would be a mistake to rezone this building and allow this development to go ahead. The area is already saturated with new commercial developments that do not preserve the unique character or history of the area, and I do not believe they offer the economic benefits they tout. This is gentrification and quite frankly, it is unwanted. When considering the commercial aspect of this development, properties such as this are not friendly for small or local business as they require way more capital and covenant than these companies have. Rents and costs are high, and require a national chain store to occupy the space, effectively eliminating opportunities for small business owners.

Edmonton needs to make housing more affordable ,and the best way to do this is building dense housing in areas with good assess to transit. This is why I am writing in support of the rezoning of the Baron.

Additionally , the proposal looks to be in keeping with the architectural style of Whyte Ave and the use of mass timber is an exciting development. Building with mass timber, instead of concrete and steel, greatly reduces this development's carbon footprint and helps support the Canadian forestry industry.

Edmonton needs to make housing more affordable ,and the best way to do this is building dense housing in areas with good assess to transit. This is why I am writing in support of the rezoning of the Baron.

Additionally , the proposal looks to be in keeping with the architectural style of Whyte Ave and the use of mass timber is an exciting development. Building with mass timber, instead of concrete and steel, greatly reduces this development's carbon footprint and helps support the Canadian forestry industry.

I strongly oppose this development. Old Strathcona is a gem in Edmonton, and that is due in large part to the historic nature of the low-rise buildings. There are numerous other nearby lots that could be utilized for tall new developments, and which wouldn't require the razing of a historic building. Please do not approve this project.

This proposal does not fit in with the area redevelopment plan. In addition, I do not support tearing down the Archibald Block. I do not believe the proposed development should go ahead. Thank you.

It's unnecessary and not a good fit for the area. There are other areas, such as older housing, that can be used for infills or redevelopment. There are already many larger mixed use/residential buildings on Whyte Ave. Unless the vacancy rates of all of those are consistently 90%+, more housing right on the Avenue will be a waste and very unsightly.

I disagree with this proposal; currently the buildings across the street and opposite to this proposed development are several stories high; the difference between Whyte avenue and downtown Edmonton is in part the older character of these buildings and their shorter stature; we lost a large amount of Whyte’s character when the Albert’s pancake house burned down and took the surrounding buildings with it. Our city should work harder to preserve heritage buildings such as this one.

There are already enough large, residential buildings in the area. The commercial businesses, especially small/locally owned businesses, need support and should not be forced to re-locate, or even worse - close, for an unnecessary and redundant project. Too many buildings in this area have already been lost or changed.
Keep the building intact and do not demolish it, please.

While I agree with maintaining historical buildings in the area, I don't feel that this building is significant enough to justify protection - there is a lot of positive economic impact that can be unlocked for the whole region through redevelopment. Having lived in Raymond Block for two years, the 100+ tenants in the building have channeled tens of thousands of family and friends through their units before heading out to retail, restaurants, bars, and festivals in the Strathcona area. Adding residences on Whyte avenue contributes heavily to all businesses in the area. New residences also lift the standard of housing for the area, and force competing landlords to either improve or retire old stock.
The decision to build with Mass Timber is of architectural and environmental significance for the Edmonton region too - I look forward to seeing this material tech utilized in plenty of future builds!

I am opposed to this rezoning. We must preserve our architectural history before it's gone for ever. This building is of obvious heritage interest and should be preserved. I would be sad to see it go. Whyte avenue's historical preservation is an investment in both our heritage and our tourism industry.

I support the development in its entirety. Resident of Bonnie Doone

I am against this development as current proposed. I don't believe the height request is appropriate and allowing an exception to the new planWhyte strategy opens the door to further future exemptions which defeats the purpose to the plan entirely. Furthermore, we have seen time and time again a wonderful rendering presented by developers and then the final product is nowhere near the interesting architectural drawings originally presented. I have lost faith that what is presented and approved will be the end product.

I am a resident of Old Strathcona and have strong concerns regarding the notice of proposed land use changes to rezone 8207 -105 st NW.

I believe this rezoning violates many of the city's goals and objectives laid out in the recent Strathcona Area Redevelopment Plan office consolidation. This project completely disregards all the of the work and consultation that went into creating this document that only came out June of this year.

The building height proposal of 33 m by this redevelopment plan is twice the height allowed for the southern piece of the property (which is 15m) and 12m higher than the northern piece of the property. There are reasons these height guidelines are in place and the city themselves laid them out in chapter 3 section 5 of the Strathcona Area Redevelopment Plan.

The buildings they are looking to demolish are also of historic value to our neighbourhood. Numerous mid rise apartment complexes have been going up in the whyte avenue area in the past few years such as william off whyte, raymond block and southpark on whyte to name a few. I encourage this community growth when it adds to the neighbourhood. However, this becomes a problem when it threatens whyte ave's unique and historic character by being built on the small portion of the avenue deemed the historical character district.

The Strathcona Area Redevelopment Plan also explains the importance of protecting the residential environment from the negative impacts of excessive traffic and long term on street parking on residential streets. This is its own goal 5 found on page 4 of this document. Creating a building with no residential parking available and removing existing parking spacing in the process is most definitely going to increase traffic and street parking within the neighbourhood. I am not a car owner myself and strive to rely on public transportation and walking to do most of my daily activities. But I found this impossible to maintain in our city and my partner and I now share a single vehicle. Even if half of the 65 residential apartments only have one vehicle per apartment (which I believe is a low estimate of the realities of car ownership in our city), that would be 32.5 extra vehicles that would need to find street parking every day. It would also increase the daily traffic on a corner that is already busy not only during festival season during the summer, but throughout the school year as parents of students at Old Strathcona school take time out of their day to drop off and pick up their children. Taking away the need for residential buildings to provide any parking for their tenants puts undue stress on communities where parking and traffic is already stretched thin. With the snow removal parking bans where are all of these tenants and their vehicles going to go?

It is important to think about how much harm is potentially going to be caused by this complete disregard of our community's redevelopment plan. It does nothing but cause distrust in the system when you bend to the first developer who asks to be an exception to the rules.

When you tear down all the historical buildings and replace with new, you can no longer call this one of Edmonton's oldest streets or neighbourhood. Adding these towers here and there creates a cookie cutter look to the street where the historic buildings become obstructed from view and subordinate to the large towers.

The city should be thanking developers and business folks willing to invest in the community, create jobs and supporting the economy. This project should go ahead 100%.

I don't think this development proposal is very well thought out. In addition to destroying yet another of our city's historic buildings and further dismantling the heritage character of the neighbourhood, part of the appeal of the Whyte Avenue area is being able to enjoy walking in the sunshine and eating outside. If this trend of building above the four storey limit continues it will block out the sun and turn the street into a wind tunnel, ruining the conditions that made the area popular to begin with. It seems very short sighted.

I am in support of this project. Mass Timber construction is the way of the future and the existing building looks to be at the end of its useful life. Whyte Avenue needs density to survive and this project will help bring business to local shops that need it most.