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AUGUST 2019 | 53 Central Tower at Century Park RENDERINGS COURTESY PROCURA REAL ESTATE SERVICES LTD. Central Tower at Century Park by SUSAN PEDERSON LOCATION 2610 109 Street Northwest, Edmonton, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER ProCura Real Estate Services Ltd. ARCHITECT/LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Rick Arndt Architect Inc. / Manasc Isaac Architects GENERAL CONTRACTOR ITC Construction Group (AB) Inc. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Dialog MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Arrow Engineering TOTAL SIZE 30 acres (total project size) TOTAL COST $66.5 million A t the busiest transit stop in Edmonton, adjacent to a future retail promenade (but also steps away from lush green space) sits an impressive glass edifice designed as a wholistic wellness hub for its rental tenants. Central Tower is a new 75-metre, 18-storey multi-family apartment development by ProCura Real Estate Services and is the first purpose-built luxury rental in Century Park. The "Diamond of Main Street" is designed to entice the high-end rental market with VIP services and amenities, as part of a larger development plan for this site. ProCura has developed 16 acres of the 30-acre parcel, beginning in 2005. Rick Arndt Architect Inc. was the original architect and Manasc Isaac Architects completed the working drawings for the project. "Century Park is a redevelopment of the old Heritage Mall shopping cen- tre, located at the highest traffic transit stop in the City of Edmonton. With easy connections to the airport, universities and the hospital, Century Park is really the gateway to Edmonton's important centres," explains George Schluessel, CEO and president of ProCura. Sherry Schluessel, senior partner of ProCura adds, "it's where suburbia meets the city, so you get the best of both worlds." The 175-unit concrete structure features a largely symmetrical, angu- lar, aquamarine glass-clad exterior, accented only by a few solitary col- umns of white spandrel panelling, and grounded by stone masonry. The main floor garden suites feature 10-foot ceil- ings, and the 18th floor "gold suites" feature 15-foot ceilings. Floor-to-ceiling panoramic win- dows with reflective coating, luxurious finishes, stone countertops, and LED lighting packages, come standard in the one and two-bedroom suites. Suite sizes range from 670 to 700 square feet for a one bedroom, with two bedrooms being approximately 800 square feet. Technological innovations include double-glazed window walls, cogen- eration technology, and solar panels. A nice touch is the living green wall in the lobby. Central Tower is but a small part of what will eventually become a 4,000-unit mega develop- ment within Century Park. The energy efficiency, amenities, and the appear- ance of the building are not the only impressive aspects of Central Tower. The construction process came together without a hitch, according to general contractor Patrick Li, of ITC Construction Group (AB) Inc. "It was an ambitious timeline of just 19 months, and overall we delivered on time. I look back over the pictures a year ago and we were just on level five of the structure," says Li. "We delivered on time and the budget was met, even with small challenges, like the require- ment to tie in the new building into an existing parkade," Li says. "One of the most interesting tech- nological innovations on this project is the cogeneration system on the roof," Li explains, "It can produce electricity on its own using natural gas and sell it back to the grid." For new tenants, they will get to enjoy the best of many different worlds within the confines of their new home. Close to parks and outdoor spaces, activities in the great outdoors can be enjoyed for those heady summer months. After, dirty pets can be washed off at the pet washing station, likewise with bikes at the bike washing station (there's also a bike repair area). On-site garden plots mean green-thumbed tenants can take full advantage of the summer growing season as well. When the chilly months hit, resi- dents can hunker down inside and make use of those VIP amenities which include everything from a golf simula- tor, bowling and kickboxing, to Pilates and spin classes, thanks to a state-of- the-art Apple Fitness system. There's also a pool room and a recreation room with a kitchen for special events, and an "Amazon room" where parcels are received for tenants while they are away. "We wanted to provide the luxury of physical and mental amenities, as we are really trying to look at sustainable development with mindfulness built in, as well as the impact on our earth," says Schluessel. A

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