On Thursday, March 21^st, over 50 ULI city builders from Edmonton and Calgary enjoyed a behind the scenes tour of Edmonton’s 25-acre multi-use sports, entertainment, office, and residential development known as ICE District. Bob Black, Executive Vice President of Katz Group / Oilers Entertainment Group kicked off the afternoon with a candid presentation on how far they’ve come from the original arena concept to the transformational project we had the opportunity to tour, as well as provided hints on what is yet to come for the future of the District. Bob shared lessons learned and offered insight into what it takes to advance such a complex and at times, controversial, project off the ground.

From Bob’s presentation in Ford Hall, the group moved over to the newly opened Stantec Tower where we learned about the thought that went into creating a warm and inviting space. Stantec’s Scott Argent, Vice President, Regional Leader Edmonton Capital Region, talked about how the new, more collaborative workspace is changing the culture of the organization. He also shared some of the design features that have provided opportunities to transform the space into various sizes and configurations depending on the need – whether a small group of five to an event function of 200 people. From the public art to the furniture to the coffee to the patio space – the new office is certainly a place where Stantec employees and clients want to linger and collaborate.

From Stantec, the group split – half of the group had the opportunity to learn from Michael Smith, Senior Vice President, Multi-Family, Western Canada ONE Properties about the complexity of designing the tallest building in Western Canada, which is both an office and resdiential tower. Following Michael’s presentation, the group had time to take in the amazing views from the 31^rd floor, get a sneak peak at the condos for sale, and learn about the amenities planned for building. The other half of the group joined Hillary Lumme Senior Vice President, Property Manager & Operations – Katz Group to learn more about leasing and property management and the excitement around some of the commercial tenants that have been secured for the ICE District.

To cap off the tour, guests headed to the newly opened ICE District Boston Pizza for a bite, drink, and networking.