Wexford Developments’ newest planned development is The Baron, located at 8207 105 St in Edmonton Alberta, on iconic Whyte Avenue. Whyte Avenue is one of Edmonton’s premier pedestrian destinations, lined with historic buildings, funky stores, local boutiques, and trendy restaurants. The Baron gets its name from John Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara. As the story goes, on 4th November 1909, a pig finally took flight when the Baron of Brabazon took a young piglet on board his airplane in a small basket. With a sign reading “I am the fist pig to fly”, the Baron gave that brave piglet the distinction of being the fist official pig to take flight.

Wexford submitted a rezoning to the City of Edmonton in July 2020 to allow for a 9-storey building featuring a 2-storey podium with main floor retail, and up to 65 rental suites on 7 stories above the podium, with a near 6 meter setback from Whyte Ave. Working closely with the City of Edmonton Heritage Department, the podium features a heritage inspired podium and the upper levels will be built using mass timber construction. Our vision is to pay homage to the history of the area and the construction of the original building by going back to building with wood, but with a twist, using Mass Timber Construction. Mass Timber construction, which replaces concrete with laminated wood beams and columns, is the most sustainable method of construction in the world. Over the life of this building alone, it will have the same emissions control effect as taking over 2 million cars off the road for one year. This will be the first true mass timber building in Alberta and we hope to make it a cornerstone not just on Whyte Avenue but in Edmonton and the Province. It will be a beacon of sustainability and showcase the future of building in Canada.