Downtown Revitalization Coalition

Despite cooler temperatures and 25 cm. of snow falling on Nov. 23, the numbers are in and Edmontonians showed up to Winterval in a big way! Here is Winterval by the numbers: ·        6,000 attendees ·        1,800 photos with Santa ·        1,400 maple taffy sticks handed out ·        900 people enjoyed the wagon rides Thank you to everyone involved! And a massive thank you to our sponsors, presenting partner, the City of Edmonton, EPCOR, Hiregood.ca, Melcor Developments, Foundry Events, Downtown Revitalization Coalition, ATB Financial and LoKnow. You can check out more photos here: https://bit.ly/41v2rRr

This week some of our DRC Steering Committee members including Puneeta McBryan, Doug Griffiths, MBA and Alexandra Hryciw are in Ottawa for the Canadian Urban Institute's Summit on the State of Canada's Cities. The country's top urban thinkers are coming together to discuss how infrastructure shapes our cities. On December 5, they're providing a livestream so Canadians can tune in for the inspiring discussions about the future of our cities. Register for the livestream here: https://lnkd.in/gxav-RWn

What brings property taxes down across the city? The economic centre of our city: a thriving downtown. What do we need to do in the upcoming budget deliberations? Prioritize investments that have a clear return and that means investing downtown. Great insights here from Edmonton Chamber of Commerce CEO and DRC Steering Committee Member Doug Griffiths, MBA. Have a read! ⏬ ⤵️ ⏬ ⤵️

Feeling allll of the warm and fuzzies in spite of winter’s rather agressive arrival over the weekend! We are so lucky to have this tenacious, hardworking, and relentlessly optimistic team at the Edmonton Downtown Business Association + our partners at Foundry Events who made our Winterval wonderland come to life in the midst of 25cm of snowfall. What pure MAGIC! And none of it is possible without our amazing community partners and sponsors - particularly the City of Edmonton, EPCOR, and Hiregood.ca. And so many more who I’ll tag below. It’s safe to say the holidays are thoroughly kicked off in downtown Edmonton! ❄️ Downtown Revitalization Coalition / ATB Financial / Melcor Developments / LoKnow

🗣️ This article, "Businesses are paying more than their fair share for downtown rebound," highlights private sector investments into downtown security and calls on the public sector to do more. The Building Owners and Managers Associations in Western Canada surveyed downtown property owners and managers, a range of tenants and the public about their actions and views on downtown safety and vibrancy in Western Canada. The results are similar in most North American cities. Read the article to learn more. A few key points: ➡️ Downtowns are definitely rebounding, but many are doing so slower than we had hoped. ➡️ Compared with other US and Canadian cities analyzed in the University of Toronto Downtown Recovery Project, downtowns in Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver are rebounding relatively well. Edmonton is a government town and ranks slightly below Calgary and Vancouver, which are on par for rebound rankings. ➡️ Our survey showed that Governments have a leadership role when it comes to the office. Forty-five per cent of businesses say they would consider returning their employees to the office full-time if governments announced a full return to the office. ➡️ Both the public and private sectors have supported downtown revitalization. Right now, the private sector is picking up the cost of increased security. In fact, many building owners and businesses have more than doubled their security spending. ➡️ Downtown building and business owners have created safe walk programs, reimagined spaces, invested in art and events, trained their employees to save lives, volunteered to support unhoused people, given food, shuttled and sheltered people — you name it and they’re doing it. They’re trying everything in their control within their properties, and even beyond their property lines, to make people feel safer. [THANK YOU!] ➡️ Seventy-one per cent of respondents expect monthly security and repair, cleaning and maintenance costs to increase by up to 10 per cent in the coming year. ➡️ Businesses are bearing a disproportionate brunt of downtown security costs and the levels they have been paying are not sustainable. So, over to you, public sector: What’s your next move? #boma #commercialrealestate #downtowns #alberta #britishcolumbia #edmonton #vancouver #edmonton Calgary Herald Damian Stathonikos, CAE BOMA BC Lisa Baroldi BOMA Edmonton Lloyd Suchet BOMA Calgary BOMA Canada BOMA Manitoba BOMA Saskatchewan BOMA Toronto BOMA Ottawa BOMA International BOMA Newfoundland & Labrador BOMA Nova Scotia BOMA NB/PEI Downtown Revitalization Coalition

“Downtown is a public good, so it’s the government’s responsibility to make sure that it’s vibrant and healthy,” says Professor Chapple. We couldn't agree more. Have a read ⤵ 🌆 CC: BILD Edmonton Metro BOMA Edmonton NAIOP Edmonton Edmonton Downtown Business Association Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Jason Syvixay Alexandra Hryciw Kalen Anderson Puneeta McBryan Heather Thomson Lisa Baroldi Anand Pye Doug Griffiths, MBA

Great The Globe and Mail piece about the Downtown Investment Plan and the importance of the core. “Downtown is a public good, so it’s the government’s responsibility to make sure that it’s vibrant and healthy,” says Professor Chapple. “What we need is transformational investments to bring people back, to feel comfortable to invest in the core, live in the core, and play and go to school in it,” said our CEO, Kalen Anderson and steering committee member of the Downtown Revitalization Coalition — a co-author of the Downtown Investment Plan. https://lnkd.in/gKbe638k

If pressure from municipal leaders worked this well... cities and downtowns would be in a MUCH different situation nationally. This is an excellent move by Amazon!

We're so excited to celebrate two DRC Steering Committee Members in the Edify Edmonton ✨ Top 40 Under 40 Class of 2024 ✨ ! Congratulations to Henry Edgar and Brendan Trayner. Beyond their work as city builders, both dedicate a lot of their time to advocacy, policy development and supporting causes that make a tangible difference in our city. A special shoutout to our Pedestrianization Plan partner Stephen Raitz as well! Edmonton is better off because of the passion and commitment of leaders like you. Read more about Henry ➡ https://lnkd.in/gwC4B_rf Read more about Brendan ➡ https://lnkd.in/g4TvDJBq Read more about Stephen ➡ https://lnkd.in/gqwkNy3e

We were delighted to be at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Province event, featuring Premier Danielle Smith. We were sitting with our partner, the Downtown Revitalization Coalition, and were happy to hear the Premier speak to the importance of downtown investment, housing, and economic development. She highlighted her interest in our industry and community-backed Downtown Investment Plan, and several actions in it, like the mobility connection from the Edmonton International Airport (YEG) to downtown. She also reminded the audience of the Edmonton Metro Region’s affordability advantage and how that can quickly be eroded by regulatory redtape and increasing policy standards. The Premier said that her government will continue to work with municipalities to ensure development can proceed quickly and enable speed-to-housing.