Council approves land sale to make way for 80-storey Alldritt Tower

An80-storey tower proposed for Jasper Avenue next to the Shaw Conference Centre is astep closer to construction after council agreed to sell the lot to the developerTuesday.

The Quarters Hotel and Residence, also known as the Alldritt Tower,would easily be the tallest building in Edmonton.

City council has been debating for months whether or not to sell the land on the embankment aboveLouise McKinney Park to the developer, worried that if the tower did not go ahead, the citywould lose control of the lot.

But ina closed-doormeeting Tuesday,council decided to go ahead with the sale.

At least one councillor voted against the sale.

Michael Walterssaidhe worries about the loss of parkland in the downtown area, despite the developer's promise to build two publicly accessibleparks into its design.

"I just wasn't satisfied that this deal ... was sufficient to ensure we got the quality park we wanted, that was aligned with the vision we have for the Quarters," he said.

His concerns echo those of manydowntown-arearesidentsunhappy with the location of the tower, saying it willobstructaccess to and views of the river valley.

Coun. Andrew Knack, who voted in favour of the sale, said that had also been one of his concerns but he doesn't feel the same way anymore.

"I think what had been proposed yesterday actually covered off what I had been concerned about and that had been, in my opinion, likely the biggest issue," he said.

• 80-storey tower stirs up anxiety among downtown-area residents
• City council delays Quarters tower decision for two months
• 80-storey tower proposed for downtown Edmonton

Knack said he's not worried the sale will set a precedent leading to selling off more public land.

"This was a very unique situation," he said. "It's not like a developer came in and said, 'Hey we want to buy up all of this city-owned parkland and put a tower on it.'

"The fact is the city owns some of the land, but then Alldritt owns a significant majority of the other land."

Apublic hearing on the rezoning of the land is scheduled at city hall on April 24.

The towerwould be the tallest in Edmonton, much higher than the66-storeyStantecTower, which is expected to open in 2018.