Ice District is a $2.5 billion mixed-use sports and entertainment district being developed on 10 hectares (25 acres) of land in Downtown Edmonton and a portion of the neighbourhood of Central McDougall. Its main attraction is Rogers Place, the home arena of the Edmonton Oilers professional ice hockey team. When completed the area will be Canada's largest mixed-use and entertainment district.[1][2] The developers of the district are the Katz Group[3] and the ONE Development Group.[4][5] On July 13, 2015, it was announced that the area of the city surrounding the arena from 101 and 104 Street to 103 and 106 Avenue would be referred to as "Ice District" – a name created by Daryl Katz.[6][7]
Rogers Place, the home arena for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League, is the main attraction of the district. Opened on September 8, 2016, it seats 18,500 people for hockey games.[8] The cost of the arena was around $480 million.[9]
Ford Hall
The winter garden, named Ford Hall, is a 4,200-square-metre (45,000 sq ft), climate-controlled facility, that spans 104 Avenue. It is a public gathering space and connects the Edmonton Light Rail Transit system with the grand entrance of Rogers Place.[citation needed] There will also be a pedway connection to the new JW Marriott hotel. It opened on September 8, 2016, at a cost of $56.5 million.[10]
Public plaza
There is a 4,600-square-metre (50,000 sq ft) public plaza first opened to the public for the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs and is nicknamed the "Moss Pit" by fans after the late Joey Moss.[11]
The Grand Villa Casino Edmonton is a casino that opened on September 7, 2016, and is owned by Gateway Casinos. It is next to Rogers Place in the Ice District. The 5,600 m2 (60,000 sq ft) facility cost $32 million. It replaced the adjacent Baccarat Casino, which operated from 1996 to 2016 and which was demolished later in 2020.[13]
The 2,800 m2 (30,000 sq ft) gaming space includes 600 slot machines and 28 table games. The casino has three restaurants.[14]
In 2019, Gateway Casinos laid off staff and reduced operations to Thursdays through Sundays and when major events were held at Rogers Place. The casino sought to prioritize business on days with greater foot traffic.[15][16] The casino suspended operations in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and did not reopen until July 2022; following the reopening, as directed by a licence amendment by the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC), the casino returned to operating seven days per week as with all other Alberta casinos. Gateway successfully had the condition blocked, but the casino continued to operate seven days per week.[17][15]
With the new development about 4,000 new parking spaces are being created.[20] As well there will be 5,000–10,000 within a 5-to-10-minute walk from the arena and public plaza.[21] Major roads include 104 Avenue, 101 Street, and 105 Street.
Three new office buildings were/are being constructed in the district, as well as a hotel with private residences above. The City of Edmonton Tower with 29 floors and a height of 129.8 metres (426 ft) opened in December 2016, with construction coming to an end in 2017.[25][26]Stantec Tower has 66 floors and a height of 250.8 metres (823 ft).[27][28] The combined JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District & Residences[29] has 55 floors and a height of 192.15 metres (630.4 ft),[30] was completed in June 2019.[31]
The Edmonton Tower[26] is a 29-storey 129.84-metre (426.0 ft) tall, office building in the Ice District area of Edmonton. It was topped-out in early spring 2016, and completed in December 2016. City of Edmonton staff began moving to the tower in November 2016.[25][26][34] It is Edmonton's eighth tallest building.[35]
The JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District & Residences was completed in August 2019. The 356-room hotel component, occupying the 1st through 22nd floors, is operated by JW Marriott Hotels.[29] It has 2,300 square metres (25,000 sq ft) for conference halls and a 930-square-metre (10,000 sq ft) ballroom.[36] This is the third hotel of this brand in Canada.[37] Residential condominiums known as the Legends Private Residences occupies the 23rd through 54th floors[29][38] above the hotel.[29]
CWB National Headquarters
CWB is an under construction office tower in the Ice District. It will sit at 104 Avenue and 103 Street and be 16 storeys tall.[39] In March 2019, it was announced that a Loblaws CityMarket would serve as the anchor tenant for the retail podium, with construction slated to begin "immediately." The retail podium is expected to completed in early 2022.,[40][41] and the tower portion of the project is expected to be complete in 2025.[42]
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