Speech: Working together to revitalize downtown9 February 2010 | In the News
Check Against Delivery
I am excited to be here because I get to spend the next 30 minutes talking about something I am very passionate about – the future of our great city. Several months ago, I was a 20-year partner at one of the cityʼs most respected law firms. And I had every intention of spending the next 20 years at that firm. That all changed when the phone rang and I was offered the chance to lead one of the most exciting projects that Edmonton has seen in 50 years. The person on the other end of the line was Daryl Katz. Now, Iʼve known Daryl a long time and when he believes in something – like he believes in Edmonton and in this project – he can be very persuasive. What Daryl described to me that day was not about a hockey team…or an arena…or even a new, world-class entertainment and sports district in downtown Edmonton. What he described was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Edmonton…and a vision for the future of our city as an exciting and vibrant place that can change the way people think of Edmonton and be a magnet for people…for business…for tourists…and for jobs. For the moment we are calling this little project the “Edmonton Arena District”. That is a working title. The name is not important. There will be time for Edmontonians to settle on a name. The only thing that matters right now is that we come together as a city, as a community, and that we seize this opportunity. And that is where I would like to begin. So, what exactly is the opportunity here, and why is it so extraordinary? In a minute, Iʼll show you a preliminary sketch of the site plan we have in mind. Iʼll even talk a bit about – yes -- how we plan to pay for all this. But first, letʼs define the problem we are trying to solve. Letʼs start with the need to revitalize our downtown. That is part one. Edmonton is a great city, but our downtown core needs fixing. We all know it has suffered from decades of underinvestment. And despite the many good things that are happening, it is lagging behind whatʼs happening in other major Canadian cities. I have heard people call it rough… bleak… and dirty. People say itʼs dead. That it lacks energy, which for Alberta is more than ironic – itʼs unacceptable. But I am not telling you anything you donʼt already know. In all of the public opinion research we have done, the opportunity to revitalize downtown is what has people most excited about this project. It is also the reason why the mayor and the city have made revitalizing downtown one of their top priorities. Through the cityʼs “Capital City Downtown Plan” and a host of other initiatives we are seeing some very promising things start to happen… … the Boyle Street renaissance… … the new vision for Jasper Ave… … the exciting plan for the Quarters redevelopment… ….Epcor tower and the Stationlands project… … Inner City High, which is a major legacy project of the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation… …and cultural landmarks like the Winspear Theatre, the renovated Citadel and the stunning new Art Gallery of Alberta. For those of you have been down to the gallery since it opened last month, you know what I am talking about. Itʼs iconic, itʼs exciting, and it is making people across North America look at Edmonton in a way people have never seen us before. Two years ago, Mayor Mandel said, ”We all know that in any great city, downtown is where you find its heart. Itʼs a showpiece. Itʼs a magnet. A city lives in its downtown, and Edmonton is no exception.” We couldnʼt agree more. One of Edmontonʼs great strengths has always been its post-secondary institutions. We are home to many of Canadaʼs best and brightest young talents, thanks in large part to U of A, NAIT, Grant MacEwan University and Norquest College. But attracting top students and giving them a world-class education is not our challenge -- weʼre already very good at that. No, our challenge is keeping all that great talent here at home once they graduate. Youth today are highly mobile, discerning and aware. They want good, meaningful jobs. And they want a vibrant and rewarding place to live. And youth, as they say, shall be served! The diversity and strength of our economy is another area of need and opportunity. Edmonton is a global leader today in education, research and health and we support one of the largest, most productive and most promising oil and gas regions in the We have a real shot at becoming one of the most innovative and competitive economies in North America. But study after study is telling us that one of the keys to attracting and retaining great people is a vibrant downtown. Then there is the opportunity to add another leg to our economy… tourism. Professor Mark Rosentraub, who has written extensively on the power of sports and entertainment districts to revitalize cities, and who worked very closely with Mayor Mandelʼs leadership committee, has said tourism is the fastest growing segment of the global economy today. We live in a beautiful city – a gateway to the North -- with an unspoiled river valley and some of the greatest festivals in the world. We have loads of untapped potential to seize upon this opportunity. Now, letʼs get back to the question of opportunity. We have talked about downtown. Now letʼs talk about Rexall Place. Edmonton – as Iʼm sure you have heard -- has the second oldest and the smallest building in the NHLʼs smallest market. This, among other things, puts the Oilers at a significant economic and competitive disadvantage that will only grow over time. And in 30 years, no new private sector development has occurred on the lands around Rexall Place. Edmonton can do better than that. Two years ago, the Mayor established the Leadership Committee I just mentioned to look at Rexall Place. The Committee was chaired by Lyle Best. As most of you know, Lyle is a no-nonsense soul who calls it like he sees it. The Committee also included business and community leaders like Patrick LaForge from the Oilers and Jerry Bouma and Andy Huntley from Northlands. The Committee concluded -- without qualification -- that Edmonton needs a new arena and that the new arena must be downtown. Now, no one – and I mean, no one -- is suggesting that we should renovate Rexall Place, but just in case youʼre wondering, the Committee commissioned a study by HOK Sports to look into the possibility. The price tag: $250 million…all of which, I can assure you, would be public money, and none of which would do anything to revitalize downtown or capitalize on any of these opportunities for Edmontonʼs future that I talked about. That would certainly make an iconic statement about our city...Iʼm just not sure itʼs one we would be proud of. What it comes down to is this: Edmonton needs a new arena. And that need has created a singular opportunity. Why? Because a new arena downtown has the critical mass to support a broader development that can revitalize, rejuvenate and redefine our city. Because the Oilers and Oil Kings have the critical mass to be anchor tenants. And because, frankly, the Oilers have an owner – a local boy who worked hard and did well…ok, he did very well – who is willing to commit his time and energy, his $200 million investment in the Oilers, and another $100 million of his own money – to help make it happen. Here is what the Mayorʼs Leadership Committee said after studying the question for more than a year. They said: “The right development in the right place will not only draw millions of visits to the city, it will revitalize downtown.” “Edmontonʼs greatest opportunity,” is what they called it. And they are not alone. Whether you talk to Dan Mason or Brad Humphreys at the U of A, or Dr. Mark Rosentraub, who advised the Mayorʼs Leadership committee, the experts agree. Perhaps Dan Mason said it best: “Edmonton is a growing city and becoming more prominent, but it has a lifeless downtown. Most if not all prominent cities in the world have a vibrant downtown…Edmonton wouldnʼt just benefit from a downtown arena. The greatest benefit would come from a comprehensive development project downtown.” We can look at cities like Columbus, San Diego, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles and we can talk to the people who live there. They have done this, and it has transformed those cities for the better. If they can do it, so can we. I know… This is all great theory. But I have this nagging sensation that Edmontonians are ready to hear some specifics…they want some facts. So let me take some time now to walk you through some of the specific elements we have in mind. Before going any further…the lawyer in me has to interject a disclaimer. What Iʼm about to show you is conceptual and remains subject to change. The Katz Group has acquired a 16-acre “T”-shaped parcel of land on the site of the Baccarat Casino and the city block West of the Bell Tower and South of 104th Avenue. Like I said, this is subject to change, but here is what we have planned. As you approach the site from downtown over the Pedway system, you come to a vibrant area of shops, restaurants and entertainment venues with office towers above. Continuing North, you enter a vast public space that we call the Winter Garden. More on this in a moment. The Winter Garden carries you over 104th Avenue where you will find: … a community rink for minor hockey and public skating that will double as an Oilers practice rink and a community-scale entertainment venue …two hotels – one 3-star, one 4-star …a new casino, and …new student residences along with amenities like coffee shops and, letʼs say…for example…a drug store. In other words, a new and exciting community, downtown. Let me come back to the Winter Garden because it will be a focal point for this project, and for Edmonton. First and foremost, it will solve the fundamental problem of getting people over 104th Avenue. In fact, it turns the not insignificant challenge of bridging a major traffic artery into an opportunity to do something extraordinary. The Winter Garden will be an iconic, open-air but climatecontrolled landmark that celebrates Edmonton as a great Northern city…A magnet that brings people together…the home to year round events and activity… and the heart that connects the various elements of the district to each other and to downtown. With the Winter Garden in place, getting to and from the district will be quick and easy… whether it is by foot from downtown through the Pedway system, by public transit or by car. Which brings me to two issues that we know from our research are of concern to Edmontonians: traffic and parking. So letʼs talk about each of those in turn, starting with parking. The district itself will house 3,000 heated underground parking spots, in addition to 12,000 more spots that already exist within a 10-minute walk, 9,000 of which are in structured parking facilities. This compares to parking at Rexall Place, where all of the spots are on the cold tundra of the prairie. Beyond the sheer capacity downtown, games and concerts generally take place at night and on weekends when demand is at its lowest. Parking will not be an issue. Neither will traffic. We consulted Bunt & Associates, a leading Canadian transportation planning and engineering firm with an office here in town. They estimate that our downtown has more than enough spare capacity to accommodate event-related traffic – even during the peak, weekday period of 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. But it gets better, since event-related traffic will almost always flow outside of normal peak hours. Not only does that generate economic activity, it means there are far fewer people coming to and from the area at any one time. On top of all that, the site will be well-integrated with our existing public transit system and tied directly into the new LRT station planned for the area. Suffice to say, this will be a very different and much warmer experience than the post-game crawl out of the parking lot at Rexall Place! We are very comfortable with the accessibility of this development and very excited about the potential for this project to be a major asset for the City of Edmonton and future of the region. Imagine now the benefits such a development will bring to downtown, the city, the region and the province. EEDC has estimated the construction of the project alone could generate over $1.25-billion in wages and create 30,000 person-years of employment in Edmonton. And thatʼs just the construction phase. Longer term, we are talking about things like civic pride…increased tourism…economic growth and development…our ability to attract more corporate head offices… increased density to make our environmental footprint smaller and our streets safer…and the kind of cultural life that will help us attract and retain our best and brightest. Some people say a recession is no time to invest. Tell that to the people who will find work on this project – to say nothing of the fact that construction costs are a whole lot lower today than they will be when our economy rebounds. If Iʼm not mistaken, that leaves one more question: how are we going to pay for it? Ok, letʼs talk about that. We are still putting the finishing touches on how we would propose to finance this development. But we are far enough along that I can give you the broad strokes. It is a model that is entirely consistent with the mayorʼs Leadership Committee Report, which recommended a mix of public and private funding. We believe it is possible to structure the model so that a new downtown arena - at an approximate cost of $400 million - will essentially be self-funding. Here is how it would work. Step 2, the Katz Group, together with other development partners, will fund approximately $1 billion in development around the arena to complete the elements of the district I just spoke about. This will include an investment by Daryl Katz of no less than $100 million. Step 3, this development will generate tax revenues for the city that the city can use to pay for the cost of financing the construction of the arena. This is the “community revitalization levy” or CRL that has been talked about for some time and that was suggested by the Mayorʼs Leadership Committee. Our funding model also assumes funding from both the provincial and federal governments for some of the infrastructure components of the district, such as the connection to the new LRT station. The result is that when all is said and done Edmonton will have a world-class entertainment and sports venue, new hotels, office space, retail offerings, etc. at no net cost to the city and without any increase in taxes or reallocation of civic infrastructure dollars. There is still some work to be done on the model, but the people of Edmonton should feel comfortable that their taxes will not go up to pay for a new arena. And rest assured, before any of this comes to pass it will go through a full public consultation process and be brought before City Council. Since stepping into this role, I have met with every member of council at least once and in most cases, several times. I have been asked some tough questions and received words of encouragement. But here is the key. This is not a “build-it-and-they-will-come” model like has been tried in many other cities – sometimes very successfully and other times not. In our model, we are not asking the city to participate in financing construction of a new arena in the belief that private investment will follow. No. What we are saying is that we will bring private sector investment and build alongside the arena in the spirit of a true public-private partnership. There you have it… the vision, the benefits and the funding model. So where do we go from here? We have had extensive discussions with members of City Council, the City Planning department, community groups and business associations. We have engaged AEG, one of the worldʼs leading sports and entertainment companies, to help us bring the various elements of this project together. We are quite far along in the process of selecting a lead architect for the project. Soon, we will file a zoning application with the City. In the coming weeks we will be launching an official website for the project and developing other new platforms to have this discussion with the people of Edmonton -- both online and face-to-face. My remarks today are just one part of that process. And thatʼs really the key here – that this conversation involves all of us. We have the chance to do something very special here in Edmonton. We will need to come together as a community to make it happen. This is Edmontonʼs opportunity and it needs to be Edmontonʼs vision. This really is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. More than anything, itʼs about the future. I hope you can share in my excitement. And I hope that if you believe in this projectʼs potential to transform our city, that you wonʼt be shy in saying so. If there is time or interest for others to ask questions, I would be happy to take a few. ………………………. Thatʼs probably all the time we have, but before I close, let me say one more thing. If we are going to make this project As it happens, we just happen to have our very own Lana Bertsch here from Aquila Productions. If you would like to share your thoughts, Lana would be only too happy to capture them on film for our website and other materials. Thanks again. |