FEATURE: How Daryl Katz's ICE District has transformed downtown Edmonton

On a typical Oilers game night, downtown Edmonton is teeming with activity stretching for multiple blocks in every direction.

In the hours leading up to puck drop, thousands of fans are gathering in one of three main connected public spaces: ICE District Plaza, directly in front of the Oilers home arena Rogers Place; Ford Hall, directly adjacent to the arena's main entrance; and the new Fan Park which hosts year-round outdoor events and entertainment across the street.

Bars, restaurants and shops-including the flagship Oilers retail store-also swell with fans before, during and after a game. Once the final horn of the game sounds, a growing number of those fans return to their downtown homes instead of venturing miles into the suburbs-choosing to make the increased vibrancy of the urban locale the centre of their professional and personal lives.

And in the days between games, employees in the many offices located in the ICE District development continue to debate and discuss the Oilers pursuit of their sixth Stanley Cup.

This scene embodies the vision of Daryl Katz, Founder and Chairman of the newly reorganized OEG Inc. (formerly Oilers Entertainment Group), the parent entity of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers and ICE District's developer.

In less than seven years since its 2016 opening, the CDN $2.5 billion, 25-acre ICE District-centered by Rogers Place and ICE District Plaza, the 68-storey Stantec Tower, the neighbouring Edmonton Tower and a major JW Marriott hotel-has become an industry model of the substantial power of mixed-use sports and entertainment districts to help transform civic life at a broad scale.

At the time of its completion, Rogers Place and ICE District was the second-largest mixed-use development ever built in North America-trailing only New York's Hudson Yards, and the Edmonton effort still easily stands out for its scale and impact.

"The arena was the cornerstone of what was needed to build ICE District," said Katz, who was born, raised and built his business empire in Edmonton. "People can now see the broader vision and how we utilize the arena to feed into the other commercial elements of the project. And it has revitalized our downtown."

A fast-increasing number of other professional teams across North America have also built their own mixed-use developments or are now planning to do so, including a still-growing group of clubs traveling to Edmonton looking to use ICE District as an influence on their respective projects.

But perhaps nowhere other than Edmonton has such an ambitious, sports-anchored development project been completed so quickly, made such a profound effect on its local community, and arose from such a backdrop of prior franchise turbulence.

"And it's not just the development. I believe we have the greatest arena in the world," Katz said. "We took great time to determine what to put in the building."

Before the development of Rogers Place and ICE District, that portion of downtown Edmonton included large swaths of often-unused surface parking and a downtrodden bus depot. More broadly, the city's urban core had been greatly weakened by decades of suburban development including the massive West Edmonton Mall.

"The Oilers project is a substantial success," said Mark Rosentraub, a renowned sport management professor from the University of Michigan and director of that institution's Center for Sports Venues and Real Estate Development. "It moved people and economic activity into downtown Edmonton. And interestingly, [the city] tried to achieve it with three or four different infrastructure investments. But only one of them succeeded, and it was the arena."

Now, the downtown Edmonton area is a locus of life and vitality. Hockey stands at the centre of that vibrancy, but it's far from the only thing fueling continued growth in and around ICE District.

"The arena and ICE District have made such a dramatic change in the trajectory of downtown," said Puneeta McBryan, executive director of the Downtown Business Association of Edmonton. "On top of the larger, economic issues, we took a big hit here from Covid. I shudder to think what would have happened around here without the arena-related activity over this time. There are businesses I know would have closed otherwise."

A DIFFERENT POLITICAL DEBATE

For decades, a pro sports team seeking public assistance on a new stadium or arena project runs into essentially the same political question: why should public money be used to support the private enterprise of the team and further enrich an already-wealthy owner?

Many teams have been badly dogged by that question. Some teams are never able to overcome it, and end up relocating or fail to build a new facility. But in a small handful of pro team markets, that age-old question is fundamentally inverted and public and private entities instead come together to use the sports facility project as a catalyst to achieve large-scale civic goals extending far beyond sports.

Edmonton, through a series of twists and turns, became one of the unique locales and by many accounts now stands as an industry model of true public-private partnership through sports.

The initial vision for Rogers Place and ICE District began quietly and inauspiciously with Katz, between 2007 and late 2013, spending more than CDN $300M to assemble a series of badly underutilized land parcels in downtown Edmonton. Some of these transactions even predated his 2008 purchase of the Oilers.

Katz-at a time when many civic leaders were focused on smaller-scale renovations to the Oilers then-current home of Northlands Coliseum, which opened in 1974-knew the existing venue needed to be replaced. But the key was turning that basic realization into a far larger development plan, and one that would have support from all stakeholders.

So began what would eventually become five years of back-and-forth negotiations between Katz and city and provincial leaders-a process that would temporarily break down at various points.

Ultimately in 2013, Katz, OEG and the City of Edmonton agreed on a CDN $483.5 million financial model for Rogers Place that included CDN $132.5 million from Katz Group, $226 million from the City of Edmonton and CDN $125 million in ticket surcharges.

Beyond not increasing municipal property taxes, a key element of that financing plan was the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL)-a dedication of future tax revenue to fund and encourage growth in the ICE District area.

For his part, Katz, who pledged to spend at least CDN $100 million on development around the arena, surpassed that number by a factor of 20-reaching $2 billion. And it was the opportunity to provide a once-in-a-lifetime jolt to downtown Edmonton that moved both sides of the negotiation beyond mere numbers and into a bigger contemplation of what ICE District could represent for the city and entire region.

"ICE District has been a huge benefit to Edmonton's downtown and Edmonton overall," said Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi. "We did this project with the expectation that it would attract more investment to downtown, and it has, generating billions of dollars beyond the arena itself."

Sohi added the creation of the CRL in particular acted as a critical catalyst to spur downtown development, both within and beyond ICE District.

"It's a win-win from a taxpayer perspective," Sohi said. "We get a huge investment in downtown without raising property taxes or using public infrastructure dollars."

Rosentraub consulted for the City of Edmonton on the project during its initial planning stages. And subsequent to the completion of Rogers Place, he co-authored a detailed research study finding that Edmonton, through the arena development and ICE District, has begun to see a meaningful re-clustering of wealth in the downtown area.

That enhanced downtown concentration of Edmonton's economic activity not only produced a greater level of vitality and activity in the urban core, but also encourages a more efficient and less dispersed deployment of public resources.

"The question you have to pose is: what was the city was trying to do here?" Rosentraub said. "The goal of the City of Edmonton was to change the location of wealth in the area and to retard suburbanization. And as a result, it really mattered where the team plays. The City of Edmonton absolutely achieved its goal of re-densifying civic wealth [in the downtown core]."

Through the process, the NHL in Edmonton was also able to avoid the type of team departures that befell other league markets such as Winnipeg, Quebec City and Hartford. The Oilers instead further solidified themselves as one of the league's most iconic and progressive franchises.

"Daryl stepped up and he wanted to make sure the Oilers would be there forever," said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. "The same thing didn't happen in those other places."

Additionally, the core of the Edmonton plan for Rogers Place and ICE District is being copied for a new arena and development project in Calgary for the Flames, but that project has the added boost of up to $330 million from the provincial government.

"Along with Edmonton's Rogers Place, Alberta will now have two of the best and most modern event centres in all the world," said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

SPOTS TO GATHER

A fundamental part of the vision and execution of ICE District is the clear linkage between various gathering spaces, operating in something of a hub-and-spoke fashion with Rogers Place at the centre.

ICE District Plaza, sitting at the confluence of Rogers Place, Stantec Tower, the Connect Centre and the JW Marriott, now operates as downtown Edmonton's new town square. The outdoor setting itself features more than 50,000 square feet, another component of ICE District's expansive layout. And during recent Oilers playoff runs, the plaza has been regularly featured on national and international television as thousands of fans gather there each game, exuberantly celebrating every goal and victory.

Just a few steps away from ICE District Plaza is Ford Hall, another free, open and highly-programmable public space. An indoor atrium situated just in front of the main entrance gate to Rogers Place, Ford Hall represents one of the most unique elements of ICE District. The raised pedestrian space serves multiple functions, including providing indoor relief to fans during Edmonton winters, and representing another open place for fans to gather prior to games with live music and concessions.

An elevated climate-controlled bridge spanning 104 Avenue, downtown Edmonton's busiest thoroughfare, Ford Hall was among the most widely discussed elements of ICE District during the design and construction phases. But the end result is a grand, sweeping, light-filled vista at the entrance of Rogers Place and is something that simply does not exist at most other indoor arenas.

"The winters here can be tough, and the pedway system helps a lot," McBryan said. "And the programming that has gone into Ford Hall has really added to the overall vibrancy of ICE District."

The newest component of ICE District is Fan Park. Located just east of Rogers Place at the former site of the Baccarat Casino, the fenced, outdoor locale will be particularly adaptable for OEG for a wide range of year-round uses, including live music, art installations, public skating and community events among many others. Though still in its infancy, Fan Park stands as another important component of OEG's post-pandemic efforts in ICE District.

"There really is a symbiotic relationship between the arena and the ICE District development," Katz said. "Both need the other to succeed."

During the Oilers 2023 playoff run, Fan Park also served as the site for the Ford Tailgate Party during both home and away games, featuring free live entertainment, Oilers alumni appearances, food and drink and simulcasting of the Oilers games.

"In all the years at Northlands Coliseum, there was precious little ancillary development. What we've been able to build here is an entirely new model for how fans and the people of this town come together," said Tim Shipton, OEG executive vice president.

A WEALTH OF PROGRAMMING

The Oilers and the OEG-owned Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League, which also play in Rogers Place, not surprisingly serve as the core of the arena event activity-further burnishing Edmonton's reputation as one of the world's best hockey markets.

But what is less known is that the Oilers and ICE District are not only the magnet for citizens of Alberta's capital region, they also draw from a broad geographic area boasting more than six million people and spanning across Alberta, Saskatchewan, northern British Columbia and elsewhere in Canada's upper reaches. This gives OEG and the Edmonton market a major boost in attendance across all categories.

And hockey is just the beginning. Over the past seven years, Rogers Place has also hosted a wide range of other major events, including concert tour stops from top-tier music acts such as Canadian phenom Drake, country music legend Garth Brooks, rock superstars Coldplay, and pop music icons Paul McCartney and Elton John, among many others, as well as appearances by world figures such as former United States First Lady, Michelle Obama. Future bookings include other luminaries such as Bruce Springsteen.

A key element in OEG's continued ability to bring additional marquee events to Rogers Place is the facility's nearly 1.2 million square feet of space, a figure that roughly doubles the footprint of Scotiabank Arena in Toronto-another of Canada's leading indoor venues.

In addition to seeing that additional space at Rogers Place in fan-facing areas such as gathering spaces and concourses, the robust square footage also manifests itself in a service level and loading dock far exceeding most other comparable major-league arenas in size-greatly easing the set-up and breakdown of events.

"Our back of house, and the kind of space and infrastructure we have to work with, is a critical differentiator as we go forward and look to bring in additional events," said Stuart Ballantyne, president and chief operating officer of Rogers Place and ICE District.

Many of the hockey games and concerts at Rogers Place have also transcended mere in-and-out trips for fans, and instead mushroomed into the foundation of larger vacations and business trips to Edmonton-and in some cases, impromptu high-level industry gatherings.

Traci Bednard, chief executive of the tourism-focused Explore Edmonton, recalls how the city in early 2023 temporarily became the hub of the Canadian music industry when Rogers Place hosted the Juno Awards, the first time the event was held in Edmonton since 2004. Leading up to the Juno Awards themselves was the Road to the Junos, a concert series held over several weeks in Edmonton.

"The entire music business was in our town, and it was absolutely amazing," Bednard said. "We don't get that event back without Rogers Place, and it was the kind of thing that further positioned Edmonton as an important place to do business. And beyond the arena itself, there was spillover all over town with other ancillary events taking place in clubs and the like."

Adds Mayor Sohi, "Rogers Place and ICE District are unquestionably a big marketing tool for us. The arena is one of the most beautiful facilities in the world, and it attracts events we wouldn't have otherwise."

OEG's programming efforts, however, are by no means limited to the arena itself. Increasingly, the Plaza and Fan Park outdoor spaces are a critical element of the events happening in and around ICE District. Summer events at Fan Park, for example, include the Rock the District music festival, the electronic music-centered BomFest, and the conservation-focused Sustainival.

"Through this whole project, Daryl saw an opportunity to bring people together in a bunch of different ways," Shipton said. "We've got an ability to build audiences and now coming out of the pandemic, we've hit our stride in how we program all these spaces."

And as vibrant as the initial gatherings in Fan Park have been for Oilers games, it's the breadth of non-hockey and offseason elements in the space that perhaps have even greater potential for broad community impact.

"The idea is to have that programmed basically every week, every weekend," said Jürgen Schreiber, OEG Inc. chief executive. "This is so important for downtown, and it's not in a contained space like the arena. It's absolutely another vital piece for putting downtown back on track."

A PLACE TO LIVE, WORK AND STAY

Entertainment, however, is far from the only element of the vision of Katz and OEG for ICE District. Rather, the overarching goal is a full-scale continuum where Edmontonians also live, work and lodge.

The 68-storey Stantec Tower is Canada's largest building west of Toronto and major tenants there include PricewaterhouseCoopers, DLA Piper and Stantec itself, a leading international professional services company, just to name a few. The nearby Edmonton Tower stands at 29 storeys and is home to entities such as the Royal Bank of Canada regional office, Sorrell Financial, tax law firm Felesky Flynn LLP, and Katz's own headquarters for OEG parent Katz Group.

And with more than 1.3 million square feet of office space, ICE District in this area far exceeds the scale of its clearest predecessor, Los Angeles' LA Live.

ICE District's Class AAA high-rise offices, like those in every other major city around the world, have been temporarily affected by the pandemic and subsequent redefinition of work norms. But they remain some of the top office space in all of Canada, and in recent months, have begun to refill back toward typical pre-pandemic activity.

That dynamic of renewal has additionally shown up in independent studies finding Edmonton as the most successful city in North America in attracting visitors back to its downtown core post-pandemic, with ICE District playing a key role in that resurgence. Global commercial real estate giant Avison Young, for example, last year found that Edmonton ranked best among all 51 analyzed North American markets in bringing visitors back to its downtown core between March 2020 and September 2022.

Despite that leadership position in urban revival, Edmonton, like many other cities around the continent, is still grappling with a series of societal and economic issues either stemming from or accelerated by the pandemic-such as those new work patterns, interest rate volatility and overall population and real estate trends among others.

As a result, OEG's overall vision for downtown Edmonton is not yet complete and will require, in subsequent years, the same type of outsized effort that first brought the entire project to life.

"The continued programming of the spaces downtown and the continued effort to the project is absolutely crucial," Rosentraub said. "You have to work it every day."

Oilers and OEG officials readily agree, and have made a constant attention to programming, development, and outreach in ICE District a key priority.

"There have also been challenges along the way," Shipton said. "We had the pandemic where ICE District was essentially shut down for two and a half years from a construction perspective and significantly slowed down from a construction perspective, and we are now working through post-pandemic effects like high interest rates and inflation-along with broader issues related to Edmonton's downtown core and creating a safe and welcoming environment for guests."

The ICE District development, meanwhile, also includes luxury condominiums both within the Stantec Tower and above the JW Marriott hotel. The high-end, high-density residential component will soon be joined by the second phase of ICE District development that will add another 12 acres of development in downtown Edmonton, including a residential "urban village" to the north of Rogers Place.

That next wave of residential development will be more of a medium-density product, and one targeted toward different consumer demographics than those gravitating toward the luxury condominiums. But the overall effect is a fuller range of in-town living options as downtown Edmonton continues to transform itself.

"We've got a lot of flexibility in how we can put all that together in Phase II, and that next phase is going to go a long way to fill in the remaining gaps we have in ICE District," said Brad Gilewich, Katz Group president.

A key component of all of ICE District, however, and something tying much of the entire project together is the JW Marriott hotel. Directly connected to ICE District Plaza and the pedway system, the 346-room, 24-suite location is the only modern, luxury hotel in Alberta. Since its 2019 opening, the hotel has quickly become a go-to destination for visiting teams, performers, businessmen and women, and tourists alike.

"We needed a high-quality hotel that would keep people an extra night," Gilewich said. "A lot of people before would come into Edmonton, get their meetings and get out. So, the hotel was critical in all of this, and fundamental to building out the entire ICE District."

The deal to bring Maryland-based Marriott Corp., one of the world's leading hospitality companies, into ICE District followed an extensive request-for-proposals process and discussions between OEG and every major hotelier. In less than four years of operation, JW Marriott at ICE District now stands as one of the company's top locations.

"We went on a bit of a journey with the hotel," Gilewich said. "It was a very windy road, but ultimately it was definitely the right choice. The look and feel of the JW fits entirely with the District."

There is no doubt that ICE District has changed the face of Edmonton, while becoming a trend-setting model across sports, entertainment and urban development. The story of ICE District has also illustrated the power of an iconic franchise to create the momentum for a large-scale, multi-billion-dollar development. The vision started with the unshakable belief of Daryl Katz that the Oilers could not only bring the region together, but transform it.

Eric Fisher is a New York-based freelance journalist. Fisher has spent nearly three decades covering the sports industry through prior editing and reporting roles with outlets such as SportBusiness, Sports Business Journal, The Washington Times, and Easton (Md.) Star Democrat. A native of upstate New York, Fisher is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, and also studied at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.