Winnipeg Construction X

[bomberjet]

Project W? Asper was also hocking condos to his rich buddies.

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by esquire

That one was the Le Meridien hotel, right? Would have completely changed the feeling of that stretch of Main. Too bad it fell through. I wonder what aspect of the project's financials ended up killing it?

Too bad it did not come to fruition.
The hotel was to be either a "W" Hotel or Westin.
Same company different brands.
The Westin has wanted back in Winnipeg since Fairmont took the former Westin/CP Lombard/Winnipeg Inn.
Yes, that would have given a fabulous big city feel and vibe.
It also would look so good next to 201 Portage, with the newly redone 360 Main & up and coming 300 Main down the road.

[Only The Lonely..]

Originally Posted by drew

^ I seem to remember it had something to do with the geotechnical testing they did. Maybe the foundation was going to cost way more than budgeted for.

This is just my guess..

But the Asper kids sold 201 Portage shortly after the hotel proposal went stale.

It may have been the case the the siblings were in disagreement about developing the site further.

Condos were also to be a part of that building. I have a friend who went to a sales presentation back then.

I think the building was being marketed as 'One Portage & Main.'

[Only The Lonely..]

I came across an interesting Forbes article by an American writer who has been documenting the collapse of traditional downtown department stores.

Apparently, Winnipeg is one of a few cities where these kinds of stores still exist, the others being in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michael.../#37b191397836

The downtown Bay in its prime employed 1700 people, amazing to imagine.

[ue]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

I came across an interesting Forbes article by an American writer who has been documenting the collapse of traditional downtown department stores.

Apparently, Winnipeg is one of a few cities where these kinds of stores still exist, the others being in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michael.../#37b191397836

The downtown Bay in its prime employed 1700 people, amazing to imagine.

What do you mean by “these kinds of stores”? Just in Canada, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal still have downtown HBC locations. Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary have other downtown department stores.

In the US, many cities have downtown department stores. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Dallas, Boston (Bay Bay), and Washington come to mind.

[NewIreland]

Originally Posted by esquire

That one was the Le Meridien hotel, right? Would have completely changed the feeling of that stretch of Main. Too bad it fell through. I wonder what aspect of the project's financials ended up killing it?

Multiple developers have stated overtly that if P&M opens, shovels will be in the ground soon after.

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by ue

What do you mean by “these kinds of stores”? Just in Canada, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal still have downtown HBC locations. Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary have other downtown department stores.

In the US, many cities have downtown department stores. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Dallas, Boston (Bay Bay), and Washington come to mind.

I think the author means stores of the size, scale and historic significance of the downtown Winnipeg Bay - which was considered the flagship Bay store at one time. While there are certainly other downtown department stores, he mentions only a few US examples that would compare:

“Only four Macy’s locations, the New York Herald Square flagship, the Philadelphia store, (formerly known as the John Wanamaker flagship), the Chicago State Street location, (the former Marshall Field’s), and the San Francisco Union Square store appropriately reflect the legacy of this past retail era and remain in operation.”

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by NewIreland

Multiple developers have stated overtly that if P&M opens, shovels will be in the ground soon after.

Maybe it needs to be framed in this light for the public. As opposed to Jenny Motkaluk, road construction company guru, doomsday whistles.

[Only The Lonely..]

Originally Posted by ue

What do you mean by “these kinds of stores”? Just in Canada, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal still have downtown HBC locations. Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary have other downtown department stores.

In the US, many cities have downtown department stores. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Dallas, Boston (Bay Bay), and Washington come to mind.

FYI..

The old Macy's (Bon Marche) in downtown Seattle at Westlake Center closed this past year, ironically to become office space for Amazon.

[ue]

^ I was actually thinking of Nordstrom.

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

I think the author means stores of the size, scale and historic significance of the downtown Winnipeg Bay - which was considered the flagship Bay store at one time. While there are certainly other downtown department stores, he mentions only a few US examples that would compare:

“Only four Macy’s locations, the New York Herald Square flagship, the Philadelphia store, (formerly known as the John Wanamaker flagship), the Chicago State Street location, (the former Marshall Field’s), and the San Francisco Union Square store appropriately reflect the legacy of this past retail era and remain in operation.”

Ah, fair enough, though the HBC on Queen St in Toronto, St-Catherine in Montreal, Granville in Vancouver, and 8th in Calgary have scale and historical significance that rivals the Winnipeg location.

[🌳🌱🌿🌴🍁]

Don't know if this was recorded re Inuit Art Centre but would be interesting to hear more about its design...

https://twitter.com/umanitoba/status...51343672442881

http://umanitoba.ca/architecture/wag-iac

+ random

https://twitter.com/stephenborys/sta...746240/photo/1

https://twitter.com/evanotaylor/stat...22216029626369

[Biff]

^^^I don't know how to refer to you Tree-Kumquat-Asparagus-Palm Tree-Maple Leaf.

Do you have an easier handle?

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by ue

Ah, fair enough, though the HBC on Queen St in Toronto, St-Catherine in Montreal, Granville in Vancouver, and 8th in Calgary have scale and historical significance that rivals the Winnipeg location.

I was a bit surprised at how large and historic the downtown Bay Winnipeg store was in comparison to the other so-called Canadian flagship Bay store. Only Toronto is larger:

From Wikipedia:

Calgary Downtown 42,000 m2 (450,000 sq ft)[37] 1913
Edmonton City Centre 15,600 m2 (168,000 sq ft) 2002 (Converted from Woodward's and relocated to former Eaton's space)
Vancouver 59,200 m2 (637,000 sq ft)1927
Winnipeg Downtown 60,900 m2 (656,000 sq ft) 1926
Ottawa Rideau 31,100 m2 (335,000 sq ft) 1973 Converted from Freimans
Toronto Queen Street 79,000 m2 (850,000 sq ft) 1991 Converted from Simpsons
Montréal Centre-Ville 60,900 m2 (655,000 sq ft) 1972 Converted from Morgan's

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson...lagship_stores

[drew]

^ I quite like Calgary's Bay downtown.

It retained the covered promenade and seems like a far less imposing building in comparison to Winnipeg.

I wish Winnipeg's store retained it's original layout with the enclosed promenade along Portage and Vaughn, and without the garish mid-century awnings.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by drew

^ I quite like Calgary's Bay downtown.

It retained the covered promenade and seems like a far less imposing building in comparison to Winnipeg.

I wish Winnipeg's store retained it's original layout with the enclosed promenade along Portage and Vaughn, and without the garish mid-century awnings.

This. It blows my mind that this is one of the protected elements considering a) it looks like shit, b) it was added in the 60s, c) part of it was altered to be bright red for Zellers.

That being said if some redevelopment project came along preserving the facade, I'm sure the city/HW would delist that part. It'd be much better to remove it and restore the original entranceways, and put traditional awnings back on all the windows.

[esquire]

I always wondered why they got rid of that space so quickly. Was it just to increase the prime main floor retail area?

The awnings are convenient but they're ugly as sin. I can't believe they're a protected heritage element.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Biff

^^^I don't know how to refer to you Tree-Kumquat-Asparagus-Palm Tree-Maple Leaf.

Do you have an easier handle?

I think I'm just going to go with Emoji Guy

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by esquire

I always wondered why they got rid of that space so quickly. Was it just to increase the prime main floor retail area?

The awnings are convenient but they're ugly as sin. I can't believe they're a protected heritage element.

They're good the odd rainy day we get, but they block out all the light from the street so it's very dark at night. There's only lights at the doors.

[CoryB]

^^ Keep in mind only the downtown Winnipeg Bay store was a purpose built by the company and served as their HQ.

The only other locations to serve as the companies HQ are their smaller and now closed downtown Toronto store and the rebadged Simpsons downtown store which is larger but wasn't built by the Bay.

Also there is no Bay built store that is larger than the downtown Winnipeg location.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Originally Posted by CoryB

The only other locations to serve as the companies HQ are their smaller and now closed downtown Toronto store

I am not sure what this refers to. If you mean Yonge and Bloor, the store is still open.