[Wpg_Guy]

Polo Park (mall Parking lot redevelopment)
Location: 1485 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, MB
Developer(s): Shindico & Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited.
Architect(s): Unknown
Contractor: Unknown
Status: Rezoning Application
Media: Exclusive renderings show possible apartment development plans around Polo Park
Description: Development around Winnipeg's largest retail mall, Polo Park. The site currently sits in the Airport Vicinity Protection Area (AVPA), a bylaw, that is meant to “protect the 24-hour air operations of the airport by limiting residential noise complaints.”

Winnipeg developers fighting to revamp Polo Park amid battle with airport

A battle is brewing between two major developers and the city’s airport authority — and it’s putting hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.

On one side is Shindico Development and Cadillac Fairview, the owner of Polo Park Shopping Centre. The two developers have teamed up and are hoping to build a sprawling commercial and residential series of highrise and low-rise buildings near the mall.

But the Winnipeg Airport Authority says allowing more residential construction in the area would impact its ability to do business and increase potential noise complaints when it expands. The WAA wants to add a third runway to expand the lucrative freight sector.

For two years, the developers have been trying to get their proposal in front of a city committee and show city councillors what they believe the future of the area could hold — a mixed-use space for Winnipeggers to live, work and play in.

“We have the opportunity to do something really bold and we hope that we have the opportunity to do that without government funding, without any government help … but just to develop,” Shindico president and CEO Sandy Shindleman told Global News.

The plan could see apartment buildings around the perimeter of the mall, parking structures, office spaces and possibly assisted living units for seniors, Shindleman said.

The developers are looking to not just revamp the area, but to re-imagine the possibilities of the 80-acre parcel of land around Polo Park, from the north side of Portage Avenue, along St. Matthews Avenue and St. James Street and the west side of Empress Street.

“What you see at these sites is almost every spare square foot is able to be used for something if you allow that density,” Shindico’s Lawyer Justin Zarnowski said.

But it hinges on changes that would be required to happen before the proposal can move forward.

Residential construction is currently prohibited around the Polo Park mall site by a set of rules under the Airport Vicinity Protection Area Secondary Plan (AVPA). The purpose of the AVPA is to “protect the 24-hour air operations of the airport by limiting residential noise complaints.”

The report, heading first to the Assiniboia Community Committee March 3, recommends rejecting the proposal for this reason.

“Some components of the proposal are consistent with several Key Directions and Enabling Strategies of OurWinnipeg/Complete Communities…However, given the information available at this time, the Public Service views the potential risk of threatening the 24-hour air operations of the Winnipeg Airport and planned expansion of the airport as outweighing the potential benefits described above.”

Shindleman called this logic “nonsense.”.....