Winnipeg - Of Interest

[esquire]

^ I thought someone pointed out that those buildings were occupied in part by random government agencies? I thought there was something health care related in there, maybe WRHA?

[cllew]

Originally Posted by esquire

Is there any vacant office space in Union Station or in the Johnston Terminal?

Environment Canada moved out of the Union Station into the 5th floor of City Place a few months ago. I don't know if that space has been rented out to anybody else since they left

[esquire]

^ Seems like a logical destination. Regardless, it looks like this institute will be backfilling some of the vacant office space downtown. There won't likely be any construction triggered by this announcement.

[Jeff]

Revenue Canada building is just sitting there collecting dust on Broadway as well..

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by Jeff

Revenue Canada building is just sitting there collecting dust on Broadway as well..

Wasn’t that sold for a hotel development?

[pspeid]

Article in the Free Press about Centre Village:

Province receives seven proposals for shuttered Centre Village
Malak Abas
By: Malak Abas
Posted: 4:08 PM CDT Wednesday, May. 24, 2023




The province has begun reviewing proposals for the redevelopment of a shuttered Manitoba Housing property in downtown Winnipeg.

A request for expressions of interest from parties interested in taking on Centre Village (a 25-unit property at 575 Balmoral St.) closed May 19. A provincial spokesperson said Manitoba Housing received a total of seven proposals.

The province is reviewing them, and will create a short list of groups that will be part of a negotiated request for proposal phase. The spokesperson noted there was “no specific timeline established for that phase at this time” — a response that raised eyebrows of some Central Park neighbourhood residents.


Built in 2010, Centre Village at 575 Balmoral St. was closed just 12 years after it opened, with design and safety concerns cited.

Jason Keenan has been following the former subsidized housing complex closely — he has lived across the property for seven years, and came to the Free Press with safety concerns in February, saying break-ins and illegal activity at the property was going ignored by Manitoba Housing.

He was hopeful when the REOI was opened, but said hearing the province had no timeline for next steps was concerning.

“(The province) has a problem with procrastination. They leave it to the last possible second before they’ll do anything about it,” Keenan said Wednesday.

“It takes the press, it takes the citizens that live in the area to bring up the complaints and say something about it before they’ll do anything.”

Built in 2010, Centre Village was closed just 12 years after it opened, with design and safety concerns cited. It has since been boarded up and fallen into disrepair.

Keenan said in the time since voicing his concerns, on-site criminal activity has slowed. However, should the next steps toward giving the complex new life drag on, it’s “guaranteed” it will start back up again, he said.

“It’s just getting to summer, so we’ll see how bad that courtyard gets.”


“It takes the press, it takes the citizens that live in the area to bring up the complaints and say something about it before they’ll do anything,” said long-time West End resident Jason Keenan.

When the REOI was opened, Manitoba Housing acting director Carolyn Ryan said the agency would work to “wrap this up sooner rather than later.”

“We’d rather do it right than do it fast, and I realize that’s cold comfort for the neighbours surrounding 575 Balmoral, who’ve had to deal with increased issues on the property,” she said in April.

In the REOI, Manitoba Housing said it will prioritize new construction projects that would focus on social and affordable housing and increase the size of the units, putting demolition on the table as an option.

Manitoba Housing estimates the cost to fully repair the property is roughly $1.7 million. The City of Winnipeg’s assessed value of the property is $1.5 million.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Malak Abas
Malak Abas
Reporter

Malak Abas is a reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press.

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

Wasn’t that sold for a hotel development?

First I have heard of that.
A new Hotel on Broadway?
Sounds good. Please tell us more?

[esquire]

Speaking of hotels, the Clarion by Polo Park is coming off the market...

An Inuit investment corporation has acquired the Portage Avenue building next to Polo Park that also houses the Urban Oasis spa, an Original Pancake House restaurant and a variety of professional offices.

Sakku Investment Corp., which has been working on the deal for more than a year, will convert the hotel into a medical boarding facility providing comfort and stability for the Inuit residents of the Kivilliq region of Nunavut who travel to Winnipeg for medical care.

The Clarion signage and the property’s association with the Choice Hotel brand are coming to an end.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bu...cal-travellers

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by esquire

Speaking of hotels, the Clarion by Polo Park is coming off the market...



https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bu...cal-travellers

very interesting, thats for sure! they quite often use Best western Airport (friend works there)

[Biff]

Not really sure where I would put this.

This was just a little un-scientific fun thing I was interested in after returning from Calgary over the weekend. All stats come from the Diagram Database.

Again, just for fun so I don't want to hear that tall buildings don't make a good city or it is just a dick measuring contest...I get it, it is just purely observational.

I took Winnipeg's tallest 300 Main at 466 ft and compared it to other cities tallest. The list shows City - It's tallest in feet - 300 Main's Standing in that city - If 300 Main was taller than the cities tallest, how many buildings does Winnipeg have before that respective cities tallest (in Brackets)

300 Main – 466 ft

Victoria - 279 – 1st (12)
Vancouver - 646 – 12th
Metro Vancouver - 775 – 39th
Calgary - 810 – 27th
Edmonton - 823 – 5th
Regina - 266 – 1st (14)
Saskatoon - 290 – 1st (10)
Windsor - 364 – 1st (5)
London - 445 – 1st (1)
Waterloo - 287 – 1st (10)
Kitchener - 479 – 2nd
Mississauga - 854 – 16th
Toronto - 1815, 1025 – 149th
Niagara Falls - 531 – 3rd
Ottawa - 469 – 2nd
Montreal - 673 – 23rd
Quebec - 433 – 1st (1)
Halifax - 348 – 1st (6)

(Toronto - CN Tower and Tallest Building)

[esquire]

^ Interesting rundown. 149th place in Toronto... that is a hell of a stat.

[esquire]

One of the city's last remaining AM radio stations bit the dust. 1290 CFRW closed down after another round of Bell Media cuts. It's now down to CJOB, and CBC Radio One which most people probably listen to via the FM simulcast.

[trueviking]

That’s actually fun. Thanks for doing that.

I’m sure the Toronto number will be 170 by the end of next week.

[trueviking]

It’s too bad AM radio is dying. I like talk radio. The morning guys on CJOB are awesome but most of my radio listening is on weekends. CBC is nothing but stories about pain and suffering and CJOB is just F*ck Trudeau radio.

FM is nothing but Taylor Swift.

[trueviking]

I guess. No more Ice games on radio? I miss TSN.

Looks like Edmonton is losing its TSN.

[esquire]

^ London had a 500-footer proposed so that's another city where 300 Main won't rein supreme anymore.

From a skyline perspective, Winnipeg is lucky to have had 300 Main get built. Most Canadian cities have had at least a few showpiece towers go up in the last 15 years, but ours were not especially prominent (Hydro, TNS) until 300 Main went up. But even then it didn't do much to lift the skyline, it was only about 10% taller than 201 Portage. It does, to put it in SkyscraperPage Forum parlance, feel like we punching below our weight to some extent... you would expect that there would be a tower in the 500-600 foot range by now.

[trueviking]

Hydro was such a lost opportunity. Their demand for giant floor plates killed it. It has the area of a 45 storey office tower that would have been a signature in the skyline. Especially since they didn’t spare any expense and in every other way it is a world class building. Instead we got a building with the proportions of a tree stump.

[Biff]

I think in an ideal situation the perfect pinnacle for our downtown would be in the 600-650 ft range. Buildings really start to soar above 600 ft. Just one, and then continue to fill in with the 10 to 20 storey buildings.

I can't believe that we haven't had the - podium as office/5 to 10 floors of hotel and then 20+ or so floors of apartments building here yet. I guess you could argue that CentrePoint is that, but in WPG fashion it is all split up. You could say the same for TNS. That could have been an equivalent 40 storey building.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by trueviking

It’s too bad AM radio is dying. I like talk radio. The morning guys on CJOB are awesome but most of my radio listening is on weekends. CBC is nothing but stories about pain and suffering and CJOB is just F*ck Trudeau radio.

FM is nothing but Taylor Swift.

Originally Posted by trueviking

I guess. No more Ice games on radio? I miss TSN.

Looks like Edmonton is losing its TSN.

I will say, CJOB has improved significantly over the last 5 years or so or whenever they basically merged with Global. It's a far cry from the old days of angry Charles Adler cheerleading for Harper and Bush. The daytime rush hour hosts are pleasant and enjoyable, if you can withstand the barrage of commercials.

I find it amazing there isn't a market for any sort of music on AM. Like oldies or country. I don't know about you, but whenever I get west of Headingley on the highway, I crank up the 920 CFRY out of Portage and sing along with the classic country tunes

I am curious as to what the ICE will do with regard to radio now. If I had to bet I'd say online only, the way it was in their first year in Winnipeg. Which is unfortunate. But there aren't really any other options.

Originally Posted by Biff

I think in an ideal situation the perfect pinnacle for our downtown would be in the 600-650 ft range. Buildings really start to soar above 600 ft. Just one, and then continue to fill in with the 10 to 20 storey buildings.

I can't believe that we haven't had the - podium as office/5 to 10 floors of hotel and then 20+ or so floors of apartments building here yet. I guess you could argue that CentrePoint is that, but in WPG fashion it is all split up. You could say the same for TNS. That could have been an equivalent 40 storey building.

Makes me wonder what it would have looked like had TN taken the Edmonton ICE district approach to planning. Centrepoint and TNS could have basically been two or three really tall (600+ ft) towers on the current TNS site. Of course that would have meant nothing on Portage or west of Carlton, so there would have been a tradeoff.

I agree with Vike, Hydro was a big time lost opportunity to create some skyline punch.

[blueandgoldguy]

Why was it so important for Hydro to have large floor plates? I've forgotten the reasons.