![\"Kinistin\u00e2w](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/7eaf60b09fe99ca59a6a9333ae09beb2.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Kinistin\u00e2w Park in the Quarters neighbourhood in Edmonton. (Mrinali Anchan\/CBC News)<\/p>\n
The report notes investments have attracted more than $450 million of completed, in-progress and planned private developments. But based on the projected revenue shortfalls, no further capital projects can be started using CRL funding.<\/p>\n
The city said the CRL is not intended to change the total amount of taxes collected in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tax rates will be the same as for the rest of the city and will be based on the assessed market value of the property,\u201d the city\u2019s website states.<\/p>\n
Stevenson said there has been a mismatch in terms of the timing of investments in the Quarters but that ultimately she believes they still have long-term value.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I come back to is that the investments that the city has made in public infrastructure, in terms of some of the sewers, some of the streetscapes, you know, none of that investment goes to waste,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose assets are still there. They’re still able to support future development.\u201d<\/p>\n
LISTEN | An Edmonton architect talks about what is keeping developers away from the Quarters:<\/p>\n
Architect Gene Dub, who owns real estate development firm Five Oaks, has multiple projects being developed in the Quarters, including an affordable housing project called City Market Lofts, a student housing endeavour called The Hive and the GWG Building, which formerly hosted the Downtown Farmers\u2019 Market.<\/p>\n
In March, Dub told CBC\u2019s current affairs show Edmonton AM that he believes there is untapped potential with the Quarters\u2019 proximity to arts venues like the Royal Alberta Museum, the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Winspear Centre and the Citadel Theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe potential of being next to that shouldn’t be lost, and it’s something no other part of the city can provide, and I’m worried about it being lost,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n
Dub added that a concern for developers has been social issues which impact community members in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople don’t want to go into the Quarters because it’s become a dumping ground for social services and problematic housing, to the point where it’s become stigmatized there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are necessary services. The concern is that so many of them are in one area.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeniors are afraid to walk down the street. Families with children avoid it for the same reason. Plus all the schools have closed, and it’s just discouraging. As a result, it ends up being parking lots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concern about cultural erasure\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the premise, about a decade ago, must have been that, if you build it, they would come and that clearly wasn’t the case,\u201d William Lau, vice-president of the Boyle Street Community League, said in an interview with CBC News.<\/p>\n
Lau, who is also president of Chinatown Re:VITA, said concerns have been raised about cultural erasure in the district, and that some have expressed a desire to renew and preserve the area\u2019s roots.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The city] brought in the Quarters plan and rescinded the Chinatown master plan without any community engagement,\u201d Lau said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd then with the teardown of the [Harbin] Gate in the recent decade, all those don’t feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevenson said she\u2019s heard from the community about their concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time when the Quarters was being developed, there was a desire to reflect the multitude of histories that were in that space, including Indigenous history,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think certainly there are opportunities to strengthen the cultural identity of the neighbourhood. I know there’s a dire desire for us to rename the [Quarters] LRT stop to be the Chinatown South LRT station. I think those are great options and opportunities, and certainly something I’m more than more than willing to explore with the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/beb7e34d89093a0687bef0396fa4f222.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
The Quarters LRT station in Edmonton. (Mrinali Anchan\/CBC News)<\/p>\n
Despite the challenges facing the neighbourhood, Lau said he is optimistic about its future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think where my heart is, there’s a very vibrant community here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might not look like it from the outside, but if you go into the buildings, whether it’s CO*LAB\u00a0 or the Mah Society or the Chinatown Multicultural Centre, there’s a lot of activity to leverage and build off of and I hope that the city engages deeply with those that are already in the space to look at how we can grow from there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City of Edmonton is facing a nearly $64-million shortfall from investments tied to its Quarters Downtown Community…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[11460,3557,52,3452,8011,11462,11461,11459],"class_list":["post-23000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-anne-stevenson","tag-city-of-edmonton","tag-edmonton","tag-investments","tag-public-infrastructure","tag-quarters","tag-shortfall","tag-the-quarters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}