The Polish Heritage Society of Edmonton is a nonprofit organization with a mission to unite the Polish Canadian community and to ensure future generations continue to feel a sense of belonging, community and culture.

The Polish Heritage Society of Edmonton owns a large infill site in the Edmonton neighbourhood of Central McDougall, directly south of the existing Polish Hall. Their goal was to redevelop the northern portion of the site into a new cultural and arts facility, the Centrum Polonia. However, the DC2 direct control zoning on the site was originally written to accommodate medium rise housing and could not accommodate the desired new building.

The Society hired Situate to devise a redevelopment strategy that would accommodate the new cultural building on the northern portion of the site as well as retain the southern portion of the site for housing. 

Through a comprehensive Zoning Analysis, Situate determined that the optimal redevelopment strategy would be to subdivide the northern portion of the site and rezone it from the existing DC2 to the CB2 (general business zone), and intensify the residential density on the southern portion of the site by rezoning it from the existing DC2 to the RA9 (high-rise apartment zone), in alignment with City Plan policy. 

Situate worked closely with the project team to coordinate the subdivision and rezoning processes for the project, which was unanimously approved by Edmonton City Council on April 20, 2021 (see Item 3.17 in the meeting minutes).

The site, once redeveloped, will be transformed from a parking lot into a vibrant, mixed use hub for community and culture.