Winnipeg | 185 Smith St | Smith Street Lofts

[trueviking]

I believe it’s a stain, not a paint. Will be interesting to see how it turns out. Looking good so far.

[buzzg]

Interesting, didn’t know you could stain brick. I imagine that leaves some of the texture and variation showing through, more than paint? Kind of makes sense cuz the original renders it looked like raw brick still, but a lighter colour than what’s there.

[3de14eec6a]

[bomberjet]

Thanks for sharing. The staining of the brick really brings everything together!

[Biff]

The double storey loft units look amazing.

https://smithstreetlofts.ca/?gclid=C...BoCMLgQAvD_BwE

[GreyGarden]

That looks amazing. The concrete wall, the large windows, and staircase are great together. Magazine quality - it doesn't look cheap. I think that's a fairly unique product for the city.

[esquire]

There is some more architectural eye candy on the website. The suites are not roomy for the most part, but they do look very chic. I wonder what the rents are like? I noticed that the parkade is going up... again, no one loves a parkade but at least it reduces reliance on single-level surface parking lots.

It's great that there are substantial amounts of new downtown rental housing coming on the market, but I wonder if the pandemic is going to have any impact on uptake? Between 300 Main, True North Square, 185 Smith, Medical Arts and some of the smaller ones, that's a lot of space to fill.

[GreyGarden]

I have some friends thinking of renting here. In case anyone is curious, they inquired about pricing:

Studio: 350-380 sq.ft. - Starting from: $1050.00
1 Bedroom: 440-755 sq.ft. - Starting from: $1350.00
2 Bedroom: 950 sq.f.t. - Starting from: $1750.00
Loft: 530-970 sq.ft. - Starting from: $1550.00
Penthouse 2 bed 2 bath - Starting from: $2800.00
Penthouse 1 bed 1 bath - Starting from: $2000.00

Seems about right in comparison to what else is on the market. I was even expecting maybe a little more expensive.

[esquire]

Yeah, that's actually not bad. I was expecting a bit higher.

[peg]

Night photo (from a few weeks ago), I like how the balconies play with the light.



Parkade progress (from a few days ago). It's big - definitely has changed the presence on the street.

[bomberjet]

Looks nice!

(except for that damn crossbracing again haha)

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by GreyGarden

I have some friends thinking of renting here. In case anyone is curious, they inquired about pricing:

Studio: 350-380 sq.ft. - Starting from: $1050.00
1 Bedroom: 440-755 sq.ft. - Starting from: $1350.00
2 Bedroom: 950 sq.f.t. - Starting from: $1750.00
Loft: 530-970 sq.ft. - Starting from: $1550.00
Penthouse 2 bed 2 bath - Starting from: $2800.00
Penthouse 1 bed 1 bath - Starting from: $2000.00

Seems about right in comparison to what else is on the market. I was even expecting maybe a little more expensive.

Interesting thanks for posting that. I guess it all depends on the ‘starting from’. A 350sf suite for $1050 and 440sf suite for $1350 is pretty steep. $3 per square foot is top end. At least the suites are a good range in sizes. It’s amazing how much new rentals are charging these days.

[michelleb]

What happens when all these overpriced rentals crash in a couple years? Do they turn into slumlords and we get Place Promenade, or do they try to do condo conversions?

Just can't see how these buildings all coming online at the same time with above market rents are going to succeed.

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by michelleb

What happens when all these overpriced rentals crash in a couple years? Do they turn into slumlords and we get Place Promenade, or do they try to do condo conversions?

Just can't see how these buildings all coming online at the same time with above market rents are going to succeed.

Well until the city stops seeing 4% yearly increases in rental prices that means there is demand for these units. All these rentals coming into the market at the same time means that they’re either going to alleviate pressure on older rental apartments which will stabilize their prices, or the supply is so high that even the overpriced rentals will stagnate and even depreciate in price so that rents become more affordable for the city. After all Winnipeg’s rental vacancy rate is still around 5% which is a healthy number (especially compared to our Canadian counterparts)..

Maybe it might not be the most ideal for developers, but for the average resident more rental stock = more options = more competitive rates. The beauty of supply and demand.

[Spocket]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

Well until the city stops seeing 4% yearly increases in rental prices that means there is demand for these units. All these rentals coming into the market at the same time means that they’re either going to alleviate pressure on older rental apartments which will stabilize their prices, or the supply is so high that even the overpriced rentals will stagnate and even depreciate in price so that rents become more affordable for the city. After all Winnipeg’s rental vacancy rate is still around 5% which is a healthy number (especially compared to our Canadian counterparts)..

Maybe it might not be the most ideal for developers, but for the average resident more rental stock = more options = more competitive rates. The beauty of supply and demand.

Ironically, however, right now across Canada, the demand is heavily influenced by what I call "empty buyers". They're investors, not tenants. But, as they drive housing prices skyward, they need to demand higher and higher rents to cover their costs. In other words, it's a knock on effect from skyrocketing housing costs. Eventually it'll collapse but because it sets the bar that almost never gets lower, we're basically paying for other people's greed.

Fifteen years ago the vacancy rate was close to %0.5. People couldn't find a place to rent. Now we've got the places but we don't have the money.

[michelleb]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

All these rentals coming into the market at the same time means that they’re either going to alleviate pressure on older rental apartments which will stabilize their prices, or the supply is so high that even the overpriced rentals will stagnate and even depreciate in price so that rents become more affordable for the city.

The current effect of new builds appears to be encouraging older rentals to increase their rents as the new "market" rates set new highs. Sometimes with cheapo renos first, sometimes not.

[esquire]

I walked by this building today and it looks so much better now that it has been refreshed. In fact, the whole stretch of Smith has improved considerably over the past few years.

The only real sore spot is the old legion next door right at St. Mary Ave. and Smith. It would be nice to see just about anything there instead of a dilapidated vacant building...

[bomberjet]

The parkade for this place is huge.

I've been at the office more lately and finally realized what the new massive parkade thing is I was looking at.

Fills the gap in my skyline view lol

[Wpg_Guy]

Edison properties posted yesterday they have only 5 suites left available in this building.

[Biff]

Sounds like they need more units. If only there was a property nearby they could obtain for a decent price and build more.