Latest news with #KevinPetterson
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Office tower on Jasper Avenue to be partly converted into residential complex
Floors of unused office space in the Standard Life building on Jasper Avenue will be converted to housing. CTV News Edmonton's Connor Hogg takes a tour. Plans are in place to convert much of a major downtown Edmonton office building into housing, retail and recreational space. Leder Investments recently bought the 19-storey tower wedged between 104 and 105 streets on the south side of Jasper Avenue for $12.5 million. It will be rechristened The Standard, partly to acknowledge its original moniker, Standard Life Centre, but also because Leder wants it to be seen as a place that sets a standard. 'It's sort of a nod to the past, but also how we want to be, in a market setting, the standard for amenities and the future for properties like this where they're trying to attract people,' Kevin Petterson, Leder's vice-president of real estate, told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday. Currently, the property known as 10405 Jasper Avenue is half empty, but the Edmonton-based firm envisions a project that will bring more people to it. Petterson says the company is looking at several uses for the complex, including a food hall, pickleball and basketball courts, golf simulators, a rooftop patio restaurant and daycare services to go with converting floors 12 through 19 to residential. 10405 Jasper Avenue The entrance to the 10405 Jasper Avenue office complex in downtown Edmonton on Aug. 5, 2025. (Connor Hogg/CTV News Edmonton) He said they're 'trying to step up the game with respect to the amenities' to differentiate the building given how many straight office towers like it exist downtown. 'There's obviously a lot of competition for office tenancies right now, and depending on which building you are, it's like either you've got a vacancy problem, a massive vacancy problem, or not a lot of vacancy problem at all if you're a newer building,' Petterson told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday. 'The buildings that are being evaluated for repositioning as residential have different fundamentals, and depending on what your fundamentals are, it'll be feasible or not.' 'The buildings that are being evaluated for repositioning as residential have different fundamentals, and depending on what your fundamentals are, it'll be feasible or not.' — Kevin Petterson, Leder Investments Petterson said Leder hopes to have development permits in place for The Standard next year. City Councillor Anne Stevenson says private projects like these are good for everyone because they increase density downtown with fewer start-up costs. 'The great thing about office conversions is that we don't have any new roads to plow, we don't have any new transit services we need to provide, we don't have any new parks that we need to build,' said Stevenson, who represents Ward O-day'min. 'They're already all here.' 10405 Jasper Avenue The view looking northwest from the 10405 Jasper Avenue office complex in downtown Edmonton on Aug. 5, 2025. (Connor Hogg/CTV News Edmonton) The city offers support for office building conversions into residential space through its permitting process and through grants and financial incentives. She said office conversions 'solve two problems at once' by filling vacant commercial space and 'adding more life and vibrancy' with more people living downtown. 'Bringing more residents to the core is great for vibrancy, and particularly that 24/7 vibrancy,' Stevenson said. 'Even before the pandemic, what we typically saw was that downtown would sort of empty out after 5 p.m. Having residents living down here means that you get that street life, that activity all through the evening and night.'
CTV News
01-08-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘We're getting everything ready': How the Army and Navy building is preparing to re-open
The new owner of Whyte Avenue's former Army & Navy building says people can expect to see changes to the iconic Old Strathcona locale. Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Changes are coming to the old Army and Navy building on Whyte Avenue that's sat empty for years. People walking by will soon see what's in store for the future. Leder Investments bought the building last summer after the former department store closed in 2020. While there have been some delays, Leder Investments vice-president of real estate Kevin Petterson says change is coming soon. 'We're excited to bring it on and we're chomping at the bit just like everybody else,' Petterson told CTV Edmonton. Petterson says another group came along wanting to buy the project outright so interior work on the building was halted. That buyout fell through so Leder Investments is now planning to move ahead itself. Units are up for sale and permits are pending. The empty space will be transformed into a retail space, restaurants and a patio rooftop. 'We have to get a building permit so that's already in, we're ordering materials, we're getting everything ready so that we can launch it as quickly as possible,' Petterson said. These details are what he calls 'phase one' of the project. The city has approved a storefront improvement grant for the project, so more money can be spent on the facade. 'We want to continue to invest in the storefronts, including the heritage storefronts, that gives this neighbourhood such character,' said ward papastew councillor Michael Janz. He says Whyte Avenue has been slow to rebound from the pandemic. With new apartments going up nearby, revitalizing businesses like the Army and Navy building is something 'everyone' wants to see. 'It's something that I think is an ongoing consideration, we have a Heritage Places strategy coming forward, whether it directly funds or supports in some other way,' Janz said. Since the building has been vacant for so many years, Petterson says Edmontonians will see work begin in the next three to four months.
