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Mayor Stephen Mandel is pushing City Council for a decision on the financing of the Downtown Arena as early as next month. It's really hard to see how an informed decision can be made given the lack of basic information on arena design, who the partners are that will provide the tax lift to help pay for the arena, and whether Rexall Place will be closed or remain open.
The ESPC has not taken a position on the proposed Downtown Arena. So these are some personal thoughts. I'm not opposed to a downtown arena as such. Except for the Baccarat Casino, the proposed site is vacant land used for nothing other than surface parking. Done properly, for example by incorporating student or other non-market housing, an arena district could be of overall benefit to the surrounding inner city neighbourhoods. I'm not even opposed to some public dollars being invested in an arena if the right kind of deal can be struck. But I'm not prepared to write blank cheques or place blind faith in developers - in this case the Katz Group. My position on this is no different than the advice from the City's own consultants (Mark Rosentraub and Dan Mason).
The arena will be owned and partly funded by the City of Edmonton. Edmontonians (and City Council) need to know the basics of the arena design (seating capacity, floor plans, parking, traffic impacts, site design) before making a decision on arena financing. Edmontonians need to know that an Arena Architect has been selected and the basics of the design made public before Council decides on financing. On its arena website (revitalizedowntown.ca), the Katz Group said an Arena Architect would be in place before Christmas 2010, but three months later, nothing.
Moreover, the City Administration is recommending the use of a Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) as part of the financing. The current site is only generating $200,000/year in property tax revenue. In order to repay this portion of the financing, $6.6 million/year would need to be generated from related developments. Edmontonians have a right to know who is committed to being involved in the developments that are being depended upon to provide that tax lift. We therefore need to know who is partnering with the Katz Group on the arena district before Council makes a decision on arena financing. We also need to know if the boundaries of the CRL will extend beyond the arena district proper.
Finally, we need some definitive answers on what is going to happen to Rexall Place if a new arena is built. Council needs to know this because the ticket tax portion of the arena financing is predicated on Rexall Place closing its doors and the site being redeveloped, not Northlands competing for available events with the new arena.
In the absence of this basic information, City Council should not approve the financing of a new downtown arena. I'd be interested in your thoughts.
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Thursday, 17 May 2012 
The ESPC is a member of the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (ECOHH). ECOHH sent out a three question survey related to housing security to each political party competing in the 2012 Alberta election. So far, the Progressive Conservatives (PC), the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Alberta Party responded to ECOHH's questions. Below are their respective answers.
