If you are wondering how upzoning in Edmonton is going; when I moved into my place last year it was $1300 for a 1 bed. Now my landlord is offering a slightly larger unit for $1200. Its crazy! If I wasn't moving cities I'd be down there renegotiating my lease as we speak @growtogetheryeg.bsky.social
This is what success looks like. Landlords having to provide a good service at a fair rate or face not being landlords anymore.
More of this forever.
Same energy you get on REIT quarterly earnings calls when they talk about competitive rental markets. You can break up big landlord with this one simple trick!
Not only is February brutal in Edmonton... the leasing market feels like this snowstorm too. The absorption rate has completely shifted. Many of us predicted that Spring 2026 leasing would be different, but I don't think anyone expected this many units to hit the market at the same time. Right now, tenants have options - lots of them. They walk into a showing, and if the unit isn't exactly what they want...there is similar one just across a street. What we're seeing right now is something we haven't seen in a while - a real competition between landlords. free months of rent gift cards parking incentives flexible move-in dates upgraded appliances utility credits Everyone is trying to lease asap as the lender is coming at you and if you don't achieve proforma - you get to buy the rate down ouch! For investors this means a few things: You need to be strategic, flexible, and realistic (!!!) with pricing and incentives.
Turns out building more homes makes housing more affordable.
Edmonton real estate investors are realizing that because so many options are on the market for tenants, they need to be sweetening the pot with incentives - and being "realistic" with rent.
#yeg #yegcc
Fresh off our win at Council, we're getting together for our monthly Grow Together, Get Together tomorrow at 5pm at the Buckingham!
Invite your friends and let's talk about all the cool rowhouses, transit, and urban issues!
🔗 RSVP via Luma
luma.com/7bm7amxb
#yeg #yegcc
You'll very rarely find novel "concerns" when it comes to public hearings for affordable housing. It's always the same script.
It goes like this: "I support affordable housing, we need more affordable housing, but I have some concerns about this specific proposal".
Anyone who says we don’t need zoning reform because we should just build subsidized housing should go watch a public hearing on any proposed project.
Edmonton city council just wasted an entire day over adding 30 affordable units.
Congrats to Edmonton for retaining the 8-unit limit on infill housing developments instead of reducing it to 6 units!
It’s the backtracking proposal that was covered in this video.
One last note on this. Council did vote today to reduce the maximum height to 9.5m. While I think this is the wrong choice and will make the homes worse for those living in it, it is not a big deal as 80% of rowhomes were already under 9.5m. #yegcc
Edmonton stays with 8 homes per lot!
Vancouver will get there some day!
Great news for Edmonton retaining some of the most progressive infill policy in Canada.
Big congrats to our pals to the north!
Calgary take note...
Congratulations Edmonton! An example to us all.
Edmonton keeps winning
Win!
Thanks to all the people who put in the hard work of organizing, speaking, researching, putting together public education materials, bugging their city councillors, being annoying about this stuff in conversations with neighbours and friends.
Listen to the debate on YouTube if you can. The difference between the opposed and in favour camp is stark.
Hopefully this can put the debate to rest for awhile. Let people actually move into the housing. Let the LRT and bike network get built. Let’s see the vibrancy.
🚨 Edmonton retains status as Canadian YIMBY capital🚨
Eight is great, baby!
Thanks to @jonmorganyeg.bsky.social, @michaeljanz.bsky.social, @ashleysalvador.bsky.social, @erinrutherford.bsky.social, @andrewknack.bsky.social and the other councillors not on bluesky who voted for diverse housing options.
Thanks for supporting an Edmonton for everyone!
A screenshot of a digital voting record from the Edmonton City Council regarding "Midblock Redevelopment Amendments." A prominent red banner at the top states the motion was **Defeated** with a vote count of **4 - 8 - 0**. The specific breakdown is as follows: * **In Favour (4):** R. Clarke, M. Elliott, T. Parmar, and K. Principe. * **Opposed (8):** A. Knack, M. Janz, J. Morgan, E. Rutherford, A. Salvador, A. Stevenson, K. Tang, and J. Wright. * **Abstain/Conflict:** None. * **Absent (1):** A. Paquette.
BREAKING: We're staying at 8 homes per lot!
Edmonton City Council today voted against reducing the maximum number of homes per lot from 8 to 6 in the RS zone! #yeg #yegcc
From a comment on the original Built To Fail video: 'Toronto and Vancouver are expensive because of density!"
Incorrect. Toronto and Vancouver are dense because their land is expensive. The social purpose of density to to split expensive land across multiple payers.
We've lived in our 100m² townhouse/row condo in Millwoods for 31 years. We raised 2 kids here. We've got houses to the south & east & other condo complexes to the north & west. A fully mixed (culturally & dwelling style) neighbourhood. Much of Millwoods is like this.
And it's great.
ICYMI: The Problem with Public Hearings
NIMBYs like Lorne Gunter know that the facts aren't on their side, so they resort to making things up.
Gunter: "Even if the units in eight-plexes were 500 square feet (they’re not), who could raise a family there?"
Fact: Administration found that half of units in rowhomes are 1000sqft or more.
If any journalist would like to challenge or counter the "neighbourhood destroyer" trope with someone who lives with infill and thinks the exact opposite, you can figure out how to be in touch. Or just ignore those who support, as is the norm.
edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...
Edmonton: Lower taxes!
Infill (lowers costs), 🚲 lanes (reduce expensive 🚗 dependency).
Also Edmonton: No, not like that.
Edmonton: Make this city more vibrant!
Infill brings people in to shrinking nhbds, including renters, just like vibrant cities like Montreal.
Also Edmonton: No, not like that.
corridor zoning is bad policy!
when @michaeljanz.bsky.social convinced me to come check out Edmonton & give talk that became my book 'building for people' - i was floored they allowed 5-6 story buildings off polluted arterials, and 6-8 plexes everywhere. edmonton was leading the US and canada.
The item gets sent to all of council next week. End 🧵.
Stevenson: are there any risks with not having an idea of the impacts on affordability and to demographics?
Admin: there are impacts to rental rates and those are tradeoffs that committee has to consider. Long-term affordability won't be impacted.
Stevenson: where is that analysis?
