The City of Edmonton is investing $15 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund towards five student housing developments. More than 550 units will be guaranteed for students for a decade upon opening by 2027. All of them are within a few blocks of O-day'min Park, aside from 150 units at a development in The Quarters. Speakers at a March 20 event at the park said the incentive program addresses affordability for students, the financial reality for developers, and downtown vibrancy. "Programs like this incentive are essential because they help make projects financially feasible," said BILD Edmonton Metro CEO Kalen Anderson. "Construction costs remain high, financing conditions are changing, and urban redevelopment — particularly adaptive reuse and high-density infill — carries additional complexity and risk."
Westrich Pacific has two of the developments near the park, with Langham Developments and Autograph Group building the other two. The city and developers have touted O-day'min Park as unlocking housing investment and providing an essential community space to the downtown education district anchored by MacEwan University and NorQuest College. Both schools are growing, with MacEwan's new School of Business expected to open in 2027 and NorQuest's Career Skills Centre set to open as early as 2029.
The development in The Quarters will be located at 10316 96 Street NW, making it the furthest from MacEwan and NorQuest. Yet it's one of two student housing projects in the area by Five Oaks, which has partnered with Elev on a conversion of the former Salvation Army Centre of Hope into The Hive. Elev began as a digital matchmaking service between students and off-campus landlords, leveraging its young co-founders' firsthand experience struggling to find student housing. The company will serve as the steward of The Hive. The converted property has completed the first of two development phases and is expected to receive its occupancy permit soon, after much delay, Five Oaks owner Gene Dub told Taproot.