Winnipeg's Exchange District | East/West | Development

[Bdog]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

whats a real pain is allot of these privit spots are all reserved limiting access to them and making it really frustraiting and allot of them are flat rate all day not by the hour specialy around the exchange

Yes. Many of the parking lots are reserved until 6, with others being 24-7. I don't think to many people factor that in.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Bdog

Yes. Many of the parking lots are reserved until 6, with others being 24-7. I don't think to many people factor that in.

witch is a real pain specialy on a hockey game night as well and some close after buisnes hours as well

also some of the garage tend to run out of tickets so u cant even get in them to park inles u got a fob

[bomberjet]

As an example. Our go to restaurant for date night is Mitchell Block on McDermot. Love the pasta. I park in the parkade down the street, pay the $3 and walk a block.

It would seem this is entirely possible for pretty much everywhere downtown. I just don't see it as an issue. But I'm not a business owner dealing with joe public complaints about parking.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

As an example. Our go to restaurant for date night is Mitchell Block on McDermot. Love the pasta. I park in the parkade down the street, pay the $3 and walk a block.

It would seem this is entirely possible for pretty much everywhere downtown. I just don't see it as an issue. But I'm not a business owner dealing with joe public complaints about parking.

people think its allot to park in some of them to and parking garage owners should do more to advertise the costs along side of the city....

[bomberjet]

To park all day it's somewhere around $14 depending where you go. For an hour or two tough, its a few bucks. Especially in the evening.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

To park all day it's somewhere around $14 depending where you go. For an hour or two tough, its a few bucks. Especially in the evening.

sept special event parking can screw that up tooo....

[buzzg]

The lash/nail bar on Waterfront closed recently. Quite a few vacancies there now.

[buzzg]

I posted this in the TNS thread, but...

Found out Skip is not leaving the Exchange - they already occupy more space than their TNS footprint. Only Skip Canada (office employees) will be relocating to TNS - about 400 people currently. As they currently essentially operate as two separate companies, with the balance being Just Eat global support ops (call centre) - ~2000 employees that do 24/7 shift work.

They’ll be vacating on their piecemeal Exchange offices and consolidating support ops into the building they own at 140 Bannatyne.

[esquire]

I remember way back when they added a couple of floors to 140 Bannatyne, the renderings showed a possible eastward expansion of the building. If Skip the Dishes continues growing, I wonder if that might be a possible option for them?

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by esquire

I remember way back when they added a couple of floors to 140 Bannatyne, the renderings showed a possible eastward expansion of the building. If Skip the Dishes continues growing, I wonder if that might be a possible option for them?

IIRC the lot is owned by someone else. Now obviously they could buy it, but I'd imagine the owner is holding out for a lot considering there's never really been any action on it, and it's prime land. It sounds like both offices will allow for them to have quite a bit of room to grow, and on the call centre side they're actively trying to slow/reverse the need for so many people, so their growth has levelled off considerably in the last year.

One thing of note with 140 Bannatyne though is Indigo Parking still occupies over half the second floor, and Skip will be booting them next year, so they'll be looking for new downtown office space.

On the lot next door, does anyone know what the history is here? That lot is a good 4 feet higher than the street, presumably why there's no sidewalk there. Curious if it's got some issues that would hinder development in some way.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by buzzg

IIRC the lot is owned by someone else. Now obviously they could buy it, but I'd imagine the owner is holding out for a lot considering there's never really been any action on it, and it's prime land. It sounds like both offices will allow for them to have quite a bit of room to grow, and on the call centre side they're actively trying to slow/reverse the need for so many people, so their growth has levelled off considerably in the last year.

One thing of note with 140 Bannatyne though is Indigo Parking still occupies over half the second floor, and Skip will be booting them next year, so they'll be looking for new downtown office space.

On the lot next door, does anyone know what the history is here? That lot is a good 4 feet higher than the street, presumably why there's no sidewalk there. Curious if it's got some issues that would hinder development in some way.

it was a rail yard for canada customs

[Labroco]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

it was a rail yard for canada customs

The smaller lot behind 140 is owned with the bldg. The balance of the block has been owned by an American family for over 80 years. I believe it has recently been acquired by either United or Shelter for parking as both own large office buildings near by. It will remain parking for the foreseeable future.

[buzzg]

Tiny Feast is closing due to a divorce. That WFP article was such a joke. Really hard to sympathize with their plea for government funding more and more.

[wardlow]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Tiny Feast is closing due to a divorce. That WFP article was such a joke. Really hard to sympathize with their plea for government funding more and more.

Yep.

[buzzg]

Little golden nugget in this article about commercial vacancy in Winnipeg:

Alston Properties bought 433 Main Street (passport office) and is converting the top 9 storeys to residential next year!

"Next year, three major tenants are leaving and it will be 70 per cent vacant," he said. "That created an opportunity for us. We will be making significant upgrades to the building system and the building envelope. We’ll be adding some flair to the building. It is a seemingly tired looking building that does need to be repositioned."

There's been some work going on for a few months now at the federal government buildings on South Main, wonder if the passport office is moving there? Would be nice to see them occupy some main floor space in one of the buildings instead of private offices.

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Little golden nugget in this article about commercial vacancy in Winnipeg:

Alston Properties bought 433 Main Street (passport office) and is converting the top 9 storeys to residential next year!



There's been some work going on for a few months now at the federal government buildings on South Main, wonder if the passport office is moving there? Would be nice to see them occupy some main floor space in one of the buildings instead of private offices.

That's awesome, bringing residential right onto Main Street could really have significant impact on further development in the future.

[esquire]

Good news for sure, although I'm surprised that such a relatively modern office building (by Exchange District standards, I guess) is going mostly residential.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by esquire

Good news for sure, although I'm surprised that such a relatively modern office building (by Exchange District standards, I guess) is going mostly residential.

Maybe since there's a pretty distinct difference between Exchange and Downtown/SHED still, people looking for office space in the Exchange aren't overly attracted to a more modern highrise?

[DonaldSmith]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Little golden nugget in this article about commercial vacancy in Winnipeg:

Alston Properties bought 433 Main Street (passport office) and is converting the top 9 storeys to residential next year!

The deal also included the empty lot at 180 Bannatyne. Would be really nice to see that developed as well.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Maybe since there's a pretty distinct difference between Exchange and Downtown/SHED still, people looking for office space in the Exchange aren't overly attracted to a more modern highrise?

That used to be UGG's head office back when there was a cluster of grain companies around P&M. These days it seems to be mostly tech companies and new economy businesses around there, and I guess they aren't interested in that late 70s grain company vibe. Kind of struck me as the best of both worlds having a modern office in a heritage area, but apparently it just wasn't in demand.

Feels like the conversion of less desirable offices to residential space is starting to gain momentum. Which is fantastic, because there are now very few vacant buildings downtown and none to my knowledge that are substantial in size. It's quite a change from the mid/late 90s when there were several large vacant buildings.