Qualico Properties says its next downtown Edmonton tower proposal could grow much larger than originally planned.

The builder says the new height is in response to changing market conditions and the early success of the company’s latest residential project.

Qualico has given the Epcor Tower on 101st Street a true next-door neighbor on their Stationlands site.

The residential building is called Shift and has small units with advantages.

“You rent a small unit, but you have 10,000 square feet of recreational space,” Mike Saunders, senior vice president at Qualico, told CTV News Edmonton last week.

Qualico has already leased 90 of its 285 units, the speed with which Shift leases — especially with students — a welcome surprise to Qualico.

It has a dramatic effect on plans for the 9.1-acre Stationlands parcel, which stretches from 101st Street to 97th Street, which Qualico has owned since 1998. Originally, the master plan for the land called for five office towers, but with the development the nearby ice district, has changed and now requires seven residential buildings to be built.

“We’re probably a lot more optimistic than we were 12 months ago,” Saunders said.

“The population trends, the immigration to Alberta and especially to Edmonton, really helped inform these decisions.

As a result, Qualico has more confidence in the potential of its space on the northern edge of downtown.

What was originally planned as a 25-story building on the fortified podium for the second phase of the project is now being drawn up as something much larger.

A rendering of Qualico Properties’ Shift residential project on 101st Street in downtown Edmonton, which includes a 37-storey tower, left. (Credit: Qualico Properties)“On top of (the podium), it would be 37 stories with just under 400 units,” Saunders said.

Those units are key to Edmonton, which is still struggling after the COVID-19 pandemic to revive downtown momentum.

“What we’re proud of (is) being part of the downtown solution. We don’t see much investment at the moment. There are lots of great projects – warehouse district park it is an excellent example of what is being done in our revitalization efforts.

“We also see that Stationlands presents a great opportunity for investment and attraction for people to come downtown, because before COVID, we were seeing a strong trajectory with the downtown and its vibrancy. We just have to get back there. A coordinated effort is needed. between private industry, post-secondary institutions, all levels of government, to work in a coherent manner that allows us to recover the way we should.”

Consultants who visited downtown told the Downtown Edmonton Business Association and stakeholders just that, said Puneeta McBryan, director of the association.

“The most constructive and direct feedback they gave us was simply, ‘You need more people here. You need more residents downtown,” McBryan told CTV News Edmonton.

“That will support everything you’re trying to do.”

Drawings of Qualico Properties’ Shift residential project on 101st Street in downtown Edmonton, which includes a 37-storey tower, right. (Credit: Qualico Properties)It’s something Saunders agrees with, but stay tuned as soon as Qualico might be willing to give the go-ahead for the next 37 floors toward that goal.

“We’ll be working through our design drawings and a lot of additional analysis of market conditions,” Saunders said. “A lot of it is what economic conditions look like in 2028 or 2029.”