Rogers Place

Not to be confused with Rogers Arena in Vancouver or Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Rogers Place

File:Rogers Place Logo.png
Rogers Place under construction in January 2016
Location	10220 104 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta
Coordinates
Public transit	Edmonton LRT (MacEwan)
Owner	City of Edmonton
Operator	Oilers Entertainment Group
Capacity	Hockey: 18,641 Basketball: 19,500 Concert: 20,734
Construction
Broke ground	March 3, 2014
Opened	2016 (planned)
Construction cost	C$480 million
Architect	360 Architecture DIALOG Manica Architecture Arndt Tkalcic Bengert
Project manager	ICON Venue Group
Structural engineer	Thornton Tomasetti DIALOG
Services engineer	M-E Engineers, Inc.
General contractor	PCL Construction
Tenants
Edmonton Oilers (NHL) (2016–beyond) Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) (2016–beyond)
Website
Official website

Rogers Place is a multi-use indoor arena under construction in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It will mainly be used for ice hockey, and for other indoor sports, but will also be configurable as a venue for concerts or other events. Construction started in March 2014, and the building is expected to open before the 2016–17 NHL season. The arena will have a seating capacity of 18,641 as a hockey venue and 20,734 as a concert venue. Once completed, it will replace Rexall Place as the home of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers. The arena will be located at the block between 101 and 104 Streets and 104 and 105 Avenues. Public transit access to the arena will be provided by the Edmonton Light Rail Transit system (MacEwan Station on the Metro Line) and Edmonton Transit System buses.

Development

The arena building was initially estimated to cost $450 million. The City of Edmonton was to pay $125 million, the Katz Group of Companies was to contribute $100 million, and $125 million was to come from a user-paid facility fee. The remaining money was expected to come from the province or federal agencies. Estimated cost then increased substantially during continued discussions to a current estimated price of $480 million for the arena, and $604.5 million for the entire project.

On October 26, 2011, the Edmonton City Council approved a funding framework for the arena by a vote of 10 to 3. However a year later, with costs escalating and the Katz Group making increasing demands, the city passed a motion to end negotiations with the Katz Group and to seek out a new deal or find other options but would still be open to communicating with Daryl Katz for future talks.

On May 15, 2013, the Edmonton City Council passed a deal that will see the city of Edmonton and Oilers owner Daryl Katz each put in more money to offset the $55 million shortfall needed to build the new downtown arena. Katz will chip in an additional $15 million through the Edmonton Arena Corporation and another $15 million will come from the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL). On December 3, 2013, Rogers Communications announced a 10-year naming rights deal for the new arena, henceforth known as Rogers Place. Rogers is the official sponsor of the Edmonton Oilers, and official broadcaster of the Oilers and the National Hockey League.

The arena will be funded by the following sources:

• $279 million from the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) and other incremental revenues (increased parking revenue, reallocation of existing subsidy paid to Northlands and new taxes from business in the arena)
• $125 million from ticket surcharge on all events in the new arena
• $137.81 million from lease revenue for the Arena
• $23.68 million in cash from Edmonton Arena Corporation
• $25 million from other government sources

A new agreement was reached on January 23, 2013 between the two parties on moving forward with the arena. On February 11, 2014, it was announced that the project was completely funded, and would go ahead. Construction of the new arena broke ground in March 2014.

Real estate impact

As of December 8, 2014, $2.5 billion in downtown development have been directly connected to Rogers Place. In March 2014 Brad J. Lamb announced $225 million of investment planned to build two new condo towers. The towers are directly correlated to the arena going ahead. In addition to Brad Lamb's proposed condos, in early 2015, preliminary drawings were released to the public showing development of three residential towers between 103 Avenue and 104 Avenue on 106th Street to be developed by an Ontario real estate development company. These towers would accommodate approximately 1,300 dwellings.

Rogers Place is estimated to increase the value of real estate within a 1-mile (1.6 km) radius by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to University of Alberta economist Brad Humphreys. The Edmonton Arena District is the fastest growing arena district in the history of similar mega-projects

Rogers Place was tied to a "hospitality explosion" even before ground was broken as operators were setting up their operations in anticipation of the new arena. In early 2014 there were far fewer options to lease or purchase as competition mounted.

On July 13, 2015, it was announced that the area of the city surrounding the arena from 101 and 104 Street to 103 and 106 Avenue would be referred to as Ice District a name created by Daryl Katz, owner of the Edmonton Oilers. The name was discussed by stakeholders, partners, and vetted by focus groups.

Events

Events held at Rogers Place

Date	Artist	Tour
September 16, 2016	Keith Urban	ripCORD World Tour
September 17, 2016	Dolly Parton	Pure and Simple Tour
September 20, 2016	Drake & Future	Summer Sixteen Tour
September 29, 2016	Dixie Chicks	DCX MMXVI World Tour
November 18, 2016	Florida Georgia Line	Dig Your Roots Tour

External links

• Official Site
• City website: Arena and Entertainment District