Province, city, Oilers ownership group teaming up on event park, new Ice District housing

The province, the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Oilers ownership group are nearing an agreement that would pay for an event park beside Rogers Place and thousands of new housing units north of Ice District.

The money would also pay for the demolition of the Coliseum, the Oilers former home arena located on the corner of 118th Avenue and Wayne Gretzky Drive.

The Alberta government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the city and OEG Sports and Entertainment, signalling its willingness to move ahead with the project while negotiations on the deal continue.

"I'm very confident that we will [reach an agreement]," Premier Danielle Smith said Friday at a news conference at the fan park in Ice District.

"Everyone involved understands the benefits of revitalizing downtown Edmonton and the land nearby. All of this work will lead to better public safety, more affordable housing and more space for fun."

The three major projects — a new event park beside Rogers Place, 2,500 new housing units in the Village at Ice District, and demolishing the Coliseum and improving the Exhibition Lands area — are expected to cost a combined $408.2 million.

The memorandum of understanding says the event park would cost about $250 million and the housing another $68 million. Another $90 million would be earmarked for tearing down the Coliseum and improving the Exhibition Lands area.

Municipal officials in Edmonton were thrilled to learn last week that the provincial budget included $106 million over three years for those projects.

But according to government news releases and officials who spoke at Friday's news conference, if the budget passes the legislature and the three parties reach a deal before the end of August, the provincial government will spend $183.4 million on the projects — about 40 per cent of the total cost.

The vast majority of the provincial dollars would be in grants, but some would come through the Edmonton Capital City Downtown Community Revitalization Levy. Community revitalization levies let municipalities borrow against future property tax revenues to help pay for infrastructure development.

The grant funding will be invested over a four-year period and will flow over the course of the next seven years.

The amount listed in the province's 2025-28 capital plan is lower than the amount announced Friday, because the plan only reports grant funding over that three-year period.

The levy money would come through its duration. The City of Edmonton is proposing to extend the program by 10 years.

The City of Edmonton would cover another third of the overall cost, paying $137.8 million total, mostly through the levy, according to a news release.

OEG Sports and Entertainment would pay $87 million total for the event park and Ice District housing. The company is not contributing to the Coliseum's demolition, the release said.

"This memorandum of understanding reinforces our collective desire to build a thriving downtown," Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said during the news conference.

"Our downtown is a major economic driver, but it is also a neighbourhood that deserves to be an affordable and amenity-rich community."

A map and conceptual images show the housing will be built over several city blocks, just north of the arena, and feature a green space.

The event park will feature several hockey rinks and a stage for performers, all under a canopy, images show.

The developments are part of Phase 2 of OEG's Ice District development, which aims to attract people to the area every day year-round, not just for hockey games and concerts, said Tim Shipton, OEG's executive vice-president of external affairs.

The housing will include different types of units to meet the needs of Edmonton's growing population, Shipton said.