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Rogers Place
Rogers Place January 2016

Rogers Place (photo taken January 2016)
Location Edmonton, Alberta
Broke ground March 3, 2014[1]
Opened 2016 (planned)[2]
Owner Edmonton
Operator Oilers Entertainment Group[3]
Construction cost $480 million (Canadian)
Architect 360 Architecture[4]
DIALOG[5]
Manica Architecture[5]
Arndt Tkalcic Bengert[5]
Project Manager ICON Venue Group[6]
Structural engineer Thornton Tomasetti[5]
DIALOG[7]
Services engineer M-E Engineers, Inc.[5]
General Contractor PCL Construction[8]
Capacity Hockey: 18,641
Basketball: ≥19,500
Concert: 20,734
Tenants
Edmonton Oilers (NHL) (2016–beyond)
Edmonton Oil Kings[9] (WHL) (2016–beyond)
Rogers Place Logo

Rogers Place is a multi-use indoor arena under construction in Edmonton, Alberta. It will mainly be used for ice hockey and other indoor sports, as well as music concerts. Construction started in March 2014, and is expected to open before the 2016–17 NHL season, the arena will have a seating capacity of 18,641 as a hockey venue, and 20,734 as a concert venue.[10] Once completed, it will replace Rexall Place as the home of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers. The arena will be located at the block between 101 and 104 Streets and 104 and 105 Avenues. Public transit access to the arena will be provided by the Edmonton Light Rail Transit system (through the Metro Line extension, opening mid 2015) and Edmonton Transit System buses.

Planning and funding[]

The arena building was initially estimated to cost $450 million. The City of Edmonton was to pay $125 million, the Katz Group was to contribute $100 million, and $125 million was to come from a user-paid facility fee.[11] The remaining money was expected to come from the province or federal agencies.[12] Estimated cost then increased substantially during continued discussions to a current estimated price of $480 million for the arena, and $604.5 million for the entire project.[13]

On October 26, 2011, the Edmonton City Council approved a funding framework for the arena by a vote of 10 to 3.[14] However a year later, with costs escalating and the Katz Group making increasing demands, the city passed a motion to end negotiations with the Katz Group and to seek out a new deal or find other options but would still be open to communicating with Daryl Katz for future talks.[15][16]

A new agreement was reached on January 23, 2013 between the two parties on moving forward with the arena. Construction of the new arena is due to break ground in the summer of 2013.[17]

On May 15, 2013, the Edmonton City Council passed a deal that will see the city of Edmonton and Oilers owner Daryl Katz each put in more money to offset the $55 million shortfall needed to build the new downtown arena. Katz will chip in an additional $15 million through the Edmonton Arena Corporation and another $15 million will come from the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL).[18]

On December 3, 2013, Rogers Communications announced that it had obtained a 10-year naming rights deal for the new arena, which will be known as Rogers Place. The deal expands on Rogers' existing sponsorship deals with the team.[19]

The arena will be funded by the following sources:[2]

  • $279-million from the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) and other incremental revenues (increased parking revenue, reallocation of existing subsidy paid to Northlands and new taxes from business in the arena)
  • $125-million from ticket surcharge on all events in the new arena
  • $137.81-million from lease revenue for the Arena
  • $23.68-million in cash from Edmonton Arena Corporation
  • $25-million from other government sources

On February 11, 2014, it was announced that the project was completely funded, and would go ahead.[13][20]

Rogers place mockup

Artist rendering of Rogers Place

Real estate impact[]

As of December 8, 2014, $2.5 billion in downtown development have been directly connected to Rogers Place.[21] In March 2014 Brad J. Lamb announced $225 million of investment planned to build two new condo towers. The towers are directly correlated to the arena going ahead.[22] In addition to Brad Lamb's proposed condos, in early 2015, preliminary drawings were released to the public showing development of three residential towers between 103 Avenue and 104 Avenue on 106th Street to be developed by an Ontario real estate development company. These towers would accommodate approximately 1,300 dwellings.

Rogers Place is estimated to increase the value of real estate within a 1.6km (1 mile) radius[23] by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to University of Alberta economist Brad Humphreys. The Edmonton Arena District is the fastest growing arena district in the history of similar mega-projects [24]

Rogers Place was tied to a "hospitality explosion" even before ground was broken as operators were setting up their operations in anticipation of the new arena. In early 2014 there were far fewer options to lease or purchase as competition mounted.[25]

References[]

  1. Construction on Rogers Place Begins. CTV Edmonton (March 3, 2014). Retrieved on March 4, 2014.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Final Piece of Funding for Downtown Arena Approved. City of Edmonton (May 15, 2013). Retrieved on June 7, 2013.
  3. Katz Group, Sports and Entertainment. Katz Group of Companies. Retrieved on September 8, 2014.
  4. Staples, David. "With 360 Architecture, Edmonton’s Arena Project Will Have the Right Designer", January 16, 2012. Retrieved on May 17, 2013. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Edmonton Arena. Thornton Tomasetti. Retrieved on June 7, 2013.
  6. Stolte, Elise. "Downtown Arena Project Moves Forward with Project Manager and Architect Choices", Global News, January 16, 2012. Retrieved on January 22, 2012. 
  7. "Most exciting phase of downtown arena construction begins", Edmonton Journal, September 30, 2014. Retrieved on February 26, 2015. 
  8. "PCL Chosen to Build Downtown Arena", CBC News, April 13, 2012. Retrieved on April 15, 2012. 
  9. Jones, Terry. "With Rogers Place Plans, What You Can’t See Is Just As Strong As What You Can", April 17, 2014. Retrieved on April 17, 2014. 
  10. Salz, Allison. "Edmonton media get sneak peek at downtown arena construction site", June 2, 2014. Retrieved on June 2, 2014. 
  11. Associated Press. "Oilers, Edmonton Set Arena Finance Plan", ESPN, May 19, 2011. Retrieved on November 7, 2011. 
  12. "No Promises from Province on Edmonton Arena Money", CBC News, May 19, 2011. Retrieved on November 7, 2011. 
  13. 13.0 13.1 Parrish, Julia (February 11, 2013). City announces downtown arena budget met, work on Rogers Place to move forward. CTV Edmonton. Retrieved on February 12, 2014.
  14. "Council Approves Downtown Arena Deal", CBC News, October 26, 2011. Retrieved on November 7, 2011. 
  15. "Edmonton to End Arena Talks with Oilers' Owner Katz", CBC News, October 18, 2012. Retrieved on January 26, 2013. 
  16. Parrish, Julia. "Council Votes to Cease Arena Negotiations", CTV Edmonton, October 17, 2012. Retrieved on January 26, 2013. 
  17. Mertz, Emily. "Edmonton City Council Approves Arena Framework with Katz Group", Global Edmonton, Shaw Media, January 23, 2013. Retrieved on January 26, 2013. 
  18. "Edmonton City Council Passes New Arena Deal", CBC News, May 15, 2013. Retrieved on June 7, 2013. 
  19. "Downtown arena will be named Rogers Place", CBC News, December 3, 2013. Retrieved on December 3, 2013. 
  20. Kent, Gordon. "Downtown Arena Gets Green Light for $480M", February 11, 2014. Retrieved on February 11, 2014. 
  21. http://metronews.ca/news/edmonton/1234261/edmonton-seeing-2-5-billion-in-downtown-development-connected-to-new-arena/
  22. Lamphier, Gary. "Condo Projects on the Rise in Shadow of Edmonton’s New Arena", March 12, 2014. Retrieved on May 8, 2014. 
  23. Staples, David. "Arena Expected to Pump Property Values", November 22, 2009. Retrieved on January 12, 2013. 
  24. "Edmonton Arena District is the fastest growing arena district in the history of such mega-projects", May 27, 2015. 
  25. Hicks, Graham. "The Downtown Hospitality Explosion", October 11, 2013. Retrieved on January 9, 2014. 

External links[]


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