Is Oliver Edmonton’s urban investment gem?

Something exciting is happening in Oliver, one of Edmonton’s oldest and densest neighbourhoods.

At just under 2 square kilometers in size, this community is home to about 20,000 residents and integrates a wide range of living, working and amenity spaces. Originally known as “the West End,” and formerly a streetcar suburb, today it features four major corridors (109 Street, Jasper Ave, 124 Street, and 104 Street), over 16,000 housing units, a variety of small urban parks, and multiple connections to the future West Light Rapid Transit (LRT) network. The community has been developing and redeveloping, in waves, for over a hundred years.

Neighborhood development began, in earnest, in the late 1800s. Prior to World War I, community build-out featured the construction of modest single-detached homes, small apartments, and commercial/industrial spaces located along main thoroughfares and connected to the rail line. By the 1950s to 1970s, when Edmonton was experiencing considerable growth, there was a demand for different types of dwelling units – which led to many of those single-detached home sites being consolidated and redeveloped into walk-up apartments. Today, in its third generation, redevelopment in Oliver includes many new mid and high-rise towers and a mix of both residential and commercial developments of all scales and sizes, coupled with meaningful public amenities and streetscaping that give the neighbourhood a convivial, active, and pedestrian-friendly charm. The rail yard that used to divide the community from downtown is long gone and older warehouses are being converted for modern uses.

In October, UDI – Edmonton Metro led a walking tour of one of Edmonton’s modest but locally impactful public infrastructure investments – the 102 Avenue bicycle lane. Affectionately known by many regular users as the “Oliverbahn,” this two-kilometer protected, tree-lined lane has helped to make the community more accessible to those biking and rolling to and through the neighbourhood. From a real estate development perspective, we have also seen this lane bursting with new activity and growing private sector investment interest.

When we think about public sector upgrades to transportation infrastructure, we tend to consider large-scale roadway expansion and the addition of major transit facilities, but smaller gestures can make a big impact too. If done well and integrated in the right place and at the right time, City investment in all types of public realm upgrades – from parks to pathways – can have multiple positive economic spin-offs. The new connectivity provided by 102 Avenue through the heart of the neighbourhood has made this specific sub-sector of Oliver even more lively and interesting from a livability, mobility and development investment perspective.

On our tour of just 13 blocks of 102 Avenue between Railtown and 124th street, we visited seven active development sites that have either been recently completed or are currently under construction. Collectively, these projects represent a total of $529 million of private investment into this short stretch of roadway including 1,222 new residential units and over a million square feet of commercial, retail and office space.

While these projects add to our economic investment landscape, they also contribute Edmonton’s goal of accommodating the next 500,000 residents in mature neighbourhoods through infill development.

Oliver is already one of the most populated neighbourhoods in this part of western Canada and growth will continue to increase. Building a mix of housing types in Oliver, from medium-density apartments to ground-oriented walk-ups to high-rise towers will support our city’s aspiration for more compact, walkable communities.

Several factors have come together to make Oliver an attractive destination for people of all ages and backgrounds, and a neighbourhood where residents and commerce intersect. How we have shaped and continue to build in Oliver, I believe, provides us with important city building lessons for other parts of Edmonton, particularly those where more ambitious infill development is expected and should be explicitly encouraged:

• Create spaces and places for people. Pocket parks like Paul Kane Park and the 102 Avenue bicycle lane prioritize people, encouraging people to move around the neighbourhood on bicycles or on foot, or to linger longer and connect with one another.

• Mix-it-up. Developments on 102 Avenue include a mix of land uses – putting residential and commercial opportunities together – offering residents with all the amenities and services they need within a short distance from where they live.

• Get creative. To attract small businesses with unique and novel concepts, we need to rethink how we lease our commercial spaces. Developments along 102 Avenue provide flexible commercial spaces that can be scaled up or down depending on the business model.

• Contextually speaking. On 102 Avenue, developers are responding to the neighbourhood’s context by fronting their buildings or commercial spaces towards the bicycle lane, providing active transportation amenities, or adding public art and places for people to sit.

• Tie public realm improvements to economic development. 102 Avenue has catalyzed millions of private sector investments and can serve as the seminal case study for how to implement the City’s $100 million Bike Plan – all transportation upgrades and investments should be conceived to provide a clear return on investment.

Sometimes, as city builders, we turn our attention to other cities and communities than our own – for inspiration and best practices. I argue that one of our best examples of urban city building is right here in Edmonton, in the Oliver neighbourhood. It is home to not only residents and businesses, but a mix of public, private, and community sector leaders who are working together to ensure that it remains a place that continues to meet the diverse needs of those who live, move, and play there.

Kalen Anderson is the CEO of the Urban Development Institute – Edmonton Metro.

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