EAD Joint Venture Announces Kids & Company to Operate Child Care Centre in Edmonton Tower

EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - June 9, 2015) - The EAD Joint Venture announced today that Kids & Company will be one of the major tenants in the Edmonton Arena District (EAD), specifically in the Edmonton Tower. With a scheduled opening date in December 2016, Canada's leading corporate-sponsored child care provider is set to occupy a total of 9,400 square feet.

The child care centre will have the capacity to welcome up to 92 children, with ages ranging from infants, toddlers to pre-schoolers. The child care centre will be open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with extended hours available for special events. Kids & Company is dedicated to providing working parents and family-oriented companies with reliable, flexible and enriched superior quality child care solutions to suit the needs of each individual child and family.

"Demand is growing for quality child care in downtown Edmonton as the number of working parents increases in the downtown core," said Glen Scott, Senior Vice President Real Estate, Katz Group. "We believe Kids & Company will be an important and valuable addition to the Edmonton Arena District and will provide parents and children a professional, nurturing and safe experience."

Kids & Company will be offering EAD office tenants and condo owners priority access to the child care centre and their registration fee will be waived.

Kids & Company's innovative model includes guaranteed placement for families of corporate partners within six months, as well as flexible, part-time and back-up care. In addition, families can check in on their children through secure webcams and there are no late fees. This will be Kids & Company's third location in Edmonton.

"Kids & Company is excited to forge this new partnership with the Edmonton Arena District," says CEO Victoria Sopik, who is also a mother of eight. "The Edmonton Tower is a picturesque hub of downtown and we are honoured to be a part of the world-class project by providing our proprietary educational programming and nutritional scratch-made meals."

Set to open in fall 2016, the Edmonton Tower is a state-of-the-art, 27 storey structure that is an integral component of the Edmonton Arena District. Located at the corner of 101^st St. and 104^th Ave., the Tower is being built to LEED Gold standards and is currently 80 per cent leased with the City of Edmonton as its anchor tenant. Kids & Company will be the sole tenant occupying the fourth floor in the new tower.

In addition to a child care centre, the EAD will offer office space, retail, residential, hotel and entertainment options, providing an exciting and dynamic community in the heart of downtown Edmonton.

For more information and updates on the Edmonton Arena District, visit ead.ca.

ABOUT THE EDMONTON ARENA DISTRICT

The Edmonton Arena District (EAD) will be Canada's largest mixed-used sports and entertainment development - a dynamic, urban destination that will help transform and revitalize downtown Edmonton into a world-class destination where Edmontonians and visitors will come to live, work, and play. Anchored by a vibrant public plaza and Rogers Place, the EAD will feature a luxury hotel, two office towers, condominiums, rental apartments, a premium Cineplex movie complex and the Grand Villa Edmonton Casino. In addition, the EAD will offer a variety of retail options, boutique shops, restaurants and nightlife, as well as a grocery store and Rexall pharmacy. Under development by a joint venture between Katz Group and WAM Development Group, the EAD will become a place for all to gather, create, and share memories that is true to Edmonton's character and unlike anything in North America.

ABOUT KIDS & COMPANY

Kids & Company, a proudly Canadian company with nearly 70 locations, works directly with family-oriented corporations to develop progressive child care options that help address employees' work-life integration and productivity challenges. By partnering with Kids & Company, top-tier companies from a variety of industry sectors, are able to add child care assistance, including guaranteed full-time, part-time and emergency back-up care, and elder care to their suite of employee benefits. Certain locations also offer community-based child care. For more information, visit www.kidsandcompany.com or connect with us at @kidcochildcare and www.facebook.com/kidsandcompany.