Winnipeg Construction X

[OTA in Winnipeg]

^Also we have major immigration here, something Japan has really never done. I'm sure at this time they probably have a surplus of dwellings available unlike here.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by eman

I have no doubt about what you are saying about the current costs and viability
of that project.

Eveything about it IS affected by zoning as zoning limited the supply of available land for development. Just a fraction of OV is zoned high density and most is low density. These limits on density affect the property values. With a life cycle of about 60 years run down properties should be contenders for an upgrade in density. By limiting supply the smart money goes into renovations so the single family home is more likely to stay single family and the property already zoned high density is not likely to be upgraded either. Tokyo's has a higher turnover and each life cycle is more likely to lead owners to upgrade the density than simply renovate as zoning has much more flexibility. Over time population grows significantly compared to Winnipeg or any other NA city providing a flow of new people and customers to new businesses. Starbucks leaving OV is a sure sign that OV is not growing enough in addition to the crime they blamed it on.

Starbucks left because it didn't have a drive through....there are long line ups at Little Sister across the street.

I've told you this a thousand times.....the real world isn't minecraft....

LOL...you believe towers aren't getting built on the land it is zoned for because in other areas people are spending their money renovating their house?

You are being ridiculous comparing winnipeg to the largest city on earth.

[trueviking]

Average resale cost of a home in Tokyo is $900 per square foot.

Average rental apartment rate in Tokyo is about $4 per square foot. (Winnipeg $2.35)

[Only The Lonely..]

I will say, not surprisingly, that people who spend money don't want to be around homeless meth addicts.

These are high-end stores that are vacating an area in a neighbourhood of expensive rent

The Osborne Village of today isn't the Osborne Village of the 1990s or early 2000s

When I lived in Seattle, nobody wanted to go downtown because of the crime and erratic behavior of the drug-abusing downtown populace.

The solution is real beat cop policing.

When they instituted this in Seattle on the downtown LRT, crime magically disappeared (white flight / crime).

In Winnipeg my 93-year-old grandfather knew where to score drugs: Air Canada Park, Portage Place, the circle at Osborne.

It is no secret what happens in these places.

You position a uniformed officer or two on a rotating 120-minute cycle patrolling from the river to Confusion corner; and you might be surprised at what a nice neighbourhood Osborne Village becomes.

If we want to live in a world where 40-story blue and green glass apartment towers sprout up all over Winnipeg, then we need to create a safe place for people and corporations to invest.

In its current state (and I live in the west end), nobody will invest in any part of our inner city.

I know this because the Police Copter spends most of its evening over my house.

My guess is that we will see skyscrapers at the U of M before we see them downtown, again, because it is a safe and predictable place to invest.

Only people who are wealthy enough to own a car can live and work in Fort Garry.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

I will say, not surprisingly, that people who spend money don't want to be around homeless meth addicts.

These are high-end stores that are vacating an area in a neighbourhood of expensive rent

The Osborne Village of today isn't the Osborne Village of the 1990s or early 2000s

When I lived in Seattle, nobody wanted to go downtown because of the crime and erratic behavior of the drug-abusing downtown populace.

The solution is real beat cop policing.

...or get some of the stores to blast classical music in the outside speakers.

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...lassical-music

I believe some 7-eleven locations in the US started experimenting with blasting classical music on their outdoor speakers to drive away teenagers and homeless people in the 90s, who were not buying anything. It worked, and attracted people who would actually spend money to the locations.

Winnipeg business should blast Mozart, Beetoven, or Tchaikovsky. Meth addicts would stay away in droves.


**as an added bonus, playing classical music at your workplace is known to increase production rates and morale.

[trueviking]

“ The Osborne Village of today isn't the Osborne Village of the 1990s or early 2000s”

You’re right. It’s far more prosperous today. Thirty years ago Osborne was filled with students living six per in rundown old houses. Theres a reason for that. Osborne was run down. Today it is seeing more growth than it ever has. By far the fastest growing urban neighbourhood. There has been major construction and huge amounts of investment happening everywhere for the last several years.

I firmly reject this romantic fantasy everyone seems to have of what osborne street itself was. The handful of shops everyone remembers was just that. A handful of shops. It was never this Mecca of bohemian Indy shopping. There’s as many empty storefronts today as there was then. Way better food options than there ever was. Soon to be more.

Media loves to print full page articles about a store closing but nothing when one opens. There are great new things happening. Not the least of which is the first new buildings on the strip in decades. Two full blocks being redeveloped. Ask those developers who are investing tens of millions into these projects if they believe Osborne is dead.

And don’t pay two seconds of attention to Starbucks. They have publicly stated they are closing stores without drive throughs. They are closing everywhere. It’s a corporate mandate.

[trueviking]

“My guess is that we will see skyscrapers at the U of M before we see them downtown, again, because it is a safe and predictable place to invest.”

I will take that bet. Downtown is set to see a building boom.

Even now. Theres a 23 storey under construction and another nice tower in the exchange.

[Justanothermember]

Originally Posted by trueviking

“My guess is that we will see skyscrapers at the U of M before we see them downtown, again, because it is a safe and predictable place to invest.”

I will take that bet. Downtown is set to see a building boom.

Even now. Theres a 23 storey under construction and another nice tower in the exchange.

This falls in line with what my architect friend has been saying, that there are many developments about to occur in the city centre since residential demand is quite high.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by trueviking

“
I firmly reject this romantic fantasy everyone seems to have of what osborne street itself was. The handful of shops everyone remembers was just that. A handful of shops. It was never this Mecca of bohemian Indy shopping. There’s as many empty storefronts today as there was then. Way better food options than there ever was. Soon to be more.

In the 90s as a teenager, it was always fun to walk through the Village, and check out the clothing and record stores. However, you are correct, in stating that it was never a "mecca" of bohemian shopping. Corydon Village was always far more impressive. Plus they had stores like Blockbuster, and the Osborne Village Inn, which were never appealing.

Although I do miss Papa Georges, Kustim Kulture, and especially Movie Village.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by trueviking

“My guess is that we will see skyscrapers at the U of M before we see them downtown, again, because it is a safe and predictable place to invest.”

I will take that bet. Downtown is set to see a building boom.

Even now. Theres a 23 storey under construction and another nice tower in the exchange.

I would definitely take that bet. The area around Pembina Highway and Bison Drive is sure densifying, and high rise apartments/condos have sprung up but that is about it. With the huge influx of people to Winnipeg, downtown will definitely boom in the coming years.

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

In the 90s as a teenager, it was always fun to walk through the Village, and check out the clothing and record stores. However, you are correct, in stating that it was never a "mecca" of bohemian shopping. Corydon Village was always far more impressive. Plus they had stores like Blockbuster, and the Osborne Village Inn, which were never appealing.

Although I do miss Papa Georges, Kustim Kulture, and especially Movie Village.

Well, not really. I will remind some here. Some Boho type shopping towards Dutch Maid....
It was far more upscale for between River & T+Stradbrook. ....It was one of Thee Places to shop for clothing.
There were some fantastic apparel shops. Some very trendsetting & unique.
For Ladies, Mannequin, Appanage, more causal was Morningstar... +
For great mens clothing, Male Ego, Tyrone's Mens wear & Tyrone's sport ...+
Great dining. Victor's, Beefeater then Spotlight. Swallows, Basils, Goodies, Roggis Upper Club, Bistro Bohemia, Tea Cozy, Florence, Papa Georges +

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by trueviking

“My guess is that we will see skyscrapers at the U of M before we see them downtown, again, because it is a safe and predictable place to invest.”

I will take that bet. Downtown is set to see a building boom.

Even now. Theres a 23 storey under construction and another nice tower in the exchange.

The 21 floor apartment tower @ 209 Colony & the new 9 floor on Bannatyne East?

[EdwardTH]

Originally Posted by trueviking

“ The Osborne Village of today isn't the Osborne Village of the 1990s or early 2000s”

You’re right. It’s far more prosperous today. Thirty years ago Osborne was filled with students living six per in rundown old houses. Theres a reason for that. Osborne was run down. Today it is seeing more growth than it ever has. By far the fastest growing urban neighbourhood. There has been major construction and huge amounts of investment happening everywhere for the last several years.

I firmly reject this romantic fantasy everyone seems to have of what osborne street itself was. The handful of shops everyone remembers was just that. A handful of shops. It was never this Mecca of bohemian Indy shopping. There’s as many empty storefronts today as there was then. Way better food options than there ever was. Soon to be more.

Media loves to print full page articles about a store closing but nothing when one opens. There are great new things happening. Not the least of which is the first new buildings on the strip in decades. Two full blocks being redeveloped. Ask those developers who are investing tens of millions into these projects if they believe Osborne is dead.

And don’t pay two seconds of attention to Starbucks. They have publicly stated they are closing stores without drive throughs. They are closing everywhere. It’s a corporate mandate.

I've absolutely noticed how people's perception changes as they age, more than the actual neighbourhood changes it seems. I lived in the village from 2005 - 2021. There have always been homeless. There have always been people camping on the riverbank. That corner by the Subway was known as the place to get drugs since long before I ever moved there. The difference is younger people are less risk-averse. In my 20s we used to share a beer and a smoke with the homeless guys as we stumbled home after the bar. I remember sharing a 6-pack in the alley behind the Zu with 2 buddies of mine and 2 guys who claimed they were IP and wanted to go find coke after that lol. Now in our 30s and 40s we see those same people and clutch our pearls.

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by BAKGUY

Well, not really. I will remind some here. Some Boho type shopping towards Dutch Maid....
It was far more upscale for between River & T+Stradbrook. ....It was one of Thee Places to shop for clothing.
There were some fantastic apparel shops. Some very trendsetting & unique.
For Ladies, Mannequin, Appanage, more causal was Morningstar... +
For great mens clothing, Male Ego, Tyrone's Mens wear & Tyrone's sport ...+
Great dining. Victor's, Beefeater then Spotlight. Swallows, Basils, Goodies, Roggis Upper Club, Bistro Bohemia, Tea Cozy, Florence, Papa Georges +

I can't speak to the clothing stores but the food on the OV Strip is unreal. They're just different. Spicy noodle house's dumplings are top tier.

[KnickKnack]

Originally Posted by trueviking

“ The Osborne Village of today isn't the Osborne Village of the 1990s or early 2000s”

You’re right. It’s far more prosperous today. Thirty years ago Osborne was filled with students living six per in rundown old houses. Theres a reason for that. Osborne was run down. Today it is seeing more growth than it ever has. By far the fastest growing urban neighbourhood. There has been major construction and huge amounts of investment happening everywhere for the last several years.

I firmly reject this romantic fantasy everyone seems to have of what osborne street itself was. The handful of shops everyone remembers was just that. A handful of shops. It was never this Mecca of bohemian Indy shopping. There’s as many empty storefronts today as there was then. Way better food options than there ever was. Soon to be more.

Media loves to print full page articles about a store closing but nothing when one opens. There are great new things happening. Not the least of which is the first new buildings on the strip in decades. Two full blocks being redeveloped. Ask those developers who are investing tens of millions into these projects if they believe Osborne is dead.

And don’t pay two seconds of attention to Starbucks. They have publicly stated they are closing stores without drive throughs. They are closing everywhere. It’s a corporate mandate.

Totally agreed. Osborne street itself (as opposed to the broader village) has had its challenges in recent years and got hit hard by the pandemic like many other places but it really does seem to be on the upswing now. The enhanced police presence walking that beat seems to have helped, plus the new construction.

Overall the amount of development happening in the village is really impressive. Neighbourhoolds change and businesses close and open but the doomerism is way overdone.

If only we could lose a couple traffic lanes on osborne and get someone to redevelop the safeway parking lot...

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Starbucks left because it didn't have a drive through....there are long line ups at Little Sister across the street.

Starbucks left because of all the abusive customers that would be a "short drip" and sit in the dining room for 6+ hours with their laptop plugged into the store's power and using the store's wifi. Yes, the Village location did not have a drive thru but the bigger picture reality is Starbucks has shifted their current model to be take away only, whether it is drive thru or walk up, as a soft response to all the customers thinking it is okay to loiter there all day long with the most minimal of spends. Simply put, Starbucks is not an ultra low cost cowork space that people seem to think it is and your $2 "short drip" is not covering your costs, heck it is barely covering the cost of your beverage.

It is interesting how people choose to ignore the signs of why changes in retail are happening even when it is right in front of them.

Guess we can have a similar discussion in a month or so when yet another brick and mortar grocery store closes.

[borkborkbork]

i don't deny that it's a hard slog doing retail in the village for a number of reasons. there's not really a critical mass of shops except for one block so you don't have real window shoppers or people making an afternoon of shopping in the village. and there's lots of social problems, crime, etc.

but the idea that somehow the loss of clothing shops is an osborne dysfunction? clothing retail, especially brick and mortar, is a HARD business right now. just pressure from all sides. you see that everywhere, not just neighboourhoods like OV

[trueviking]

bricks and mortar is struggling everywhere....Blue Moon just closed in the outlet mall....where's the full page article about the death of the outlet mall?

When you consider that, OV is doing fine....the clothing stores have been replaced by great bakeries and restaurants.

[Biff]

Blue Moon is moving into the Lucky Brand Clothing space. I assume smaller and less rent.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by trueviking

bricks and mortar is struggling everywhere....Blue Moon just closed in the outlet mall....where's the full page article about the death of the outlet mall?

When you consider that, OV is doing fine....the clothing stores have been replaced by great bakeries and restaurants.

There is a CNBC video on you tube I watched the other day on the problems that outlet malls are having in the US.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsXs5V6LKp8