A small bylaw change could open the door for another big downtown development near the new Epcor Tower.

Edmonton city council has agreed to close a portion of an alley near 105A Avenue and 101st Street.

That allows a large gravel parking lot beside the Herb Jamieson Centre to be consolidated with a vacant piece of land just north of it.

Larry Gruninger owns the properties and wants to build a 25 story hotel and condo building there, saying the project would get a boost if a downtown arena is built.

"If that went, that'd be fantastic," he said. "[An arena] would certainly give the downtown area a vital impact on a lot of the restaurants there, a lot of the hotels there. People could go and eat before the game or people go and eat after the game. It would boast the economy downtown for sure."

Gruninger says his project is still in the early stages so the existing parking lot will be available for use for some time.