Downtown Winnipeg Bay store what to do with it?
Downtown Bay store now listed as less than zero dollars in property value? With it being deemed a heritage building and the amount of money required to bring it up to code and the University of Winnipeg saying they are done expanding not sure what can be done with the property?
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bu...565245762.html |
I just posted this in the retail thread, but it is probably better here:
Quote:
|
Some innovative and sustainable redevelopment is probably needed. It's heritage building so not sure if redevelopment can be done. Can't just do "whatever" with it
|
I don't know what the costs would be, but like what has been done in other cities with grand old buildings, it can be converted to a boutique hotel with possible mixed-use on the lower levels.
|
I think the preferred idea of being a higher education building for uofw or red river is over with them being pretty much at their preferred size right now. Either condos or a hotel seem like the only options left for it that I could think of. I have no clue how the bay continues to operate the place as they must be losing tons of money every month on that location.
|
I don't understand why we keep talking about what the bay should become and not talking about how to better support the 150,000 square feet of retail that exists in the store today. Even at two floors it is the largest department store operating in Winnipeg.
This article assumes a new buyer. I can probably find a lot of heritage buildings worth less than their renovation costs if you kicked out the current tenants. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
^have you been there recently? I was there yesterday and surprised by how busy it was. They have moved a bunch of furniture in and it feels more full. Still run down, but not as bad as it once was.
Polo is 140,000 sf. |
Quote:
Saving the department store is way more important to me than figuring out what to do with the other floors. I would be totally happy with a renovated and active department store on the bottom two floors, even if the other floors were empty. Once it is gone, it is gone. We need to work to keep it. |
Quote:
Quote:
I wish they'd open up the basement again, though... it felt like having a Zellers down there when the grocery store was in operation breathed at least a little new life into the place. I'm surprised that it isn't worth anyone's while to put a similar operation in down there. |
Maybe they could make 1 level a save on foods or no frills, keep 2 levels for the bay and the upper 3 floors a mix of offices and student housing? either way it really needs a reno to make that happen and likely wont happen until there is clarity on the future of portage place.
|
Quote:
As for the Bay proper, it does have more selection than it did a few years back when they first dropped the floors. A year or two ago they added a toy section for example that was absent for a long time. But clearly they're putting zero maintenance into the place. The escalator down to the main level from 2 has been unoperational for many years. |
Quote:
Hudson Bay as a brand has decidedly moved up market into near luxury retail space while the Winnipeg locations have dragged behind. This means if you go to local locations, with the downtown one being the worst, that is a fairly good chance what you are looking for won't be there unless you are looking for some out of style, low quality private labeled shelf filler. The best course of action is the mothball the place for four years then give a massive handout to a local millionaire to convert the former department store into a new facility for a local pro sports team. |
A Globe & Mail article from way back on November 28, 2017, talking about just this issue:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...ticle37099521/ Probably not any new ideas here, but it stresses the need to get multiple players involved in something this big. |
Quote:
|
@coryB. You’re correct. 212,000 sf. Thanks for the clarification. My bad.
|
Given the Bay's size and the fact that it simply isn't feasible to be fully used by one tenant, it would be great if somehow the building could divided in to multiple spaces so that many small businesses could choose to operating in the building. Much like the Pop-up Shop program that allowed small businesses to have access to cheap-ish storefronts downtown, it would be an excellent public good to have a large building with flexible spaces that could be occupied by smaller businesses looking to test the market.
Given the large parkade next to the building, perhaps it could be suited for a small grocer with room to expand as the neighboring population expands. Maybe having a mixed use and updated heritage structure would be great for the area? It would be great to see a private or public entity purchase the structure for next to nothing and invest significant capital to open up the middle as a court yard and add windows, divide every floor into flexible spaces that could accommodate small or medium scale retail or offices, and then lease back some of the space to the Bay. I know this is probably a far-fetched question, but does anyone know the maintenance and utility costs for operating the Bay, along with the estimated cost of doing a proper renovation including opening up the middle? I'd imagine that it's likely financially unfeasible since there is next to no interest in doing anything with this structure by anyone. |
Quote:
It would benefit a few ways by reducing the floor area, making the floor area that is available more tenant friendly (i.e. windows), reduce the amount of interior space that requires conditioning (i.e. mechanical costs). Once the Bay (inevitably) leaves this building, it will need to be completely gutted and redone regardless of who comes in after. |
I always thought the Saskatoon model was appealing, basically go condo with it with the hollowed out floors.
Office space would still be preferable for a building like that, though. I wonder if Skip the Dishes seriously looked at it? At first blush it looks perfect for a giant tech cube farm. |
All times are GMT. The time now is 11:51 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.