Winnipeg | Fulton Grove Development

[Wpg_Guy]

https://fultongrove.ca/

Fulton Grove Development
Location: Fulton Grove (Parker Lands)
Developer(s): Gem Equities (Andrew Marquess)
Status: In development
Documents:
Policy Framework - Design and planning principles
COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT VISUALIZATION PACKAGE, October, 2023
Media: Parker Lands project moving forward
Description: The Fulton Grove development in Winnipeg’s Parker Lands, River Heights – Fort Garry area is a transit oriented development that offers an important opportunity for revitalization and growth aligned with the city’s strategic vision. The development will provide a choice of housing (small lot single-family, townhome, condo and rental units) in an infill location.

PROPOSED By-law of THE CITY OF WINNIPEG to approve a plan of subdivision and amend the Winnipeg Zoning By-law No. 200/2006 to rezone land located at the northeast corner of Hurst Way between Asquith Avenue and the CN Railway in the City Centre Community Pursuant to Development Application No. 35/2023.

• Spread across 47.35 acres, the development plans to have 1,918 units in total, with different types of homes available, including single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and rentals, to accommodate various levels of income.
• The area near the Rapid Transit station will have more apartments and townhomes, while the outskirts will offer single-family houses.
• The development will also include shops and offices, as well as parking structures and spaces for bicycles. Surrounding the area, there will be plenty of parks and recreational spaces, ensuring a pleasant environment.
• The road network will have wide boulevards and residential streets, with sidewalks and paths connecting to existing routes.
• The Fulton Grove project will make use of existing infrastructure and services nearby, such as parks and transportation options. Additionally, the development aims to utilize geothermal energy, a renewable and eco-friendly source of heat from beneath the Earth's surface.

Development History
OurWinnipeg, the City of Winnipeg’s official development plan, designated this site for high density mixed use development to support the development of the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor adjacent to the site. A 7 year planning process was completed in 2020, as City of Winnipeg Council approved the development application. The development was never moved forward because of a disagreement by the public service on what was approved by Council.

Shovels in the ground are estimated to be initiated in 2025.

Since 2018, the property owner initiated 6 legal challenges against the City of Winnipeg to allow the development application to proceed to a vote at Council. All legal proceedings to date were ruled in favour of the property owner.

The following are features of Fulton Grove:

Walkability
Located along transit corridors and offering access to alternative pathways, one of the main goals is to decrease the need for cars. Public transportation can be reached within a 10-minute walk. It will encourage residents to use alternative transportation instead of driving, contributing to the overall sustainability, community feel, and affordability of the planned development.

Connectivity
Strategically located near the heart of the city, Fulton Grove is in close proximity to several key locations throughout the city and has many thoughtfully planned pedestrian and cyclist pathways, and easy access points to the BRT system to ensure easy movement and accessibility for residents. This helps create a connected community where people can get to know their neighbours, and reach their desired destinations, promoting convenience and enhancing the overall connectivity of the area.

Mixed-Use Development
Fulton Grove offers single-detached homes, townhouses, and multi-family residential buildings to meet different needs. Commercial zones promote a lively atmosphere, with ground-level office and retail spaces available. Convenient parking options and pedestrian-friendly features like sidewalks and pathways are provided. Parking structures are integrated into the buildings and along the rail tracks, ensuring safety and minimizing noise.

Design Emphasizing Aesthetics
Fulton Grove's design places a strong emphasis on visual appeal, with the goal of creating a beautiful and attractive development. By integrating thoughtfully designed public spaces, pedestrian-friendly pathways, a diverse range of buildings, and a keen attention to aesthetics, it aims to elevate the overall experience and create a strong sense of community within the development.

Mix of Housing Types
A mix of housing types (small lot single-detached dwellings, townhouses, condos and more) with over 1,918 units situated in an infill location.

Sustainability and Green Spaces
Fulton Grove prioritizes sustainability through various means: mixed-use and residential zones, increased density near transit, proximity to greenspace and water amenities (over 30 acres within walking distance), pedestrian-friendly streets, and district geothermal energy systems. The development goes beyond established planning frameworks, exemplifying sustainable urban development and serving as a model for future projects in Winnipeg. Furthermore, Fulton Grove is projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2,877 tonnes annually, equivalent to removing 1,129 cars from the road.

Infill Development
In Canadian cities, infill development offers numerous benefits. It optimizes land use, revitalizes neighbourhoods, and enhances access to jobs and services. Additionally, infill development is environmentally friendly, utilizing existing infrastructure and reducing pollution. By creating diverse and inclusive communities, it promotes sustainability, livability, and fairness, while avoiding the drawbacks of outward urban expansion. Fulton Grove in Winnipeg will serve as a prime example of successful infill development.

[Wpg_Guy]

City of Winnipeg approves plan to develop housing on Parker lands
11-year-long city hall odyssey concludes with unanimous council vote
Bartley Kives · Posted: Apr 25, 2024

After 11 years of delays that inspired two lawsuits — including one case still winding its way through the courts — city council has approved plans to develop Winnipeg's Parker lands.

Council voted unanimously Thursday to rezone a 19-hectare triangle of Fort Garry land wedged between the Southwest Transitway and the CNR Rivers rail line to make way for a 1,918-unit residential development called Fulton Grove.

Developer Andrew Marquess hopes to build 23 apartment towers on the east side of the triangle, closer to Pembina Highway, along with a mix of townhouses, triplexes, duplexes and single-family homes on the west side, closer to Waverley Street.

Marquess initially acquired the property from the city as part of a land swap in 2009. A planning approval process began in 2013, and Marquess has spent the last 11 years trying to get city council to approve his development proposal.

Along the way, Marquess repeatedly accused city planning officials and River Heights-Fort Garry Coun. John Orlikow of placing roadblocks in the way of the development. He has been vindicated by the courts on two occasions.

Orlikow did not attend Thursday's council meeting. Council Speaker Devi Sharma said he was attending a conference out of town on the city's behalf.

In 2018, a judge ordered the city to hold hearings over the Fulton Grove development. In a separate case in 2023, a judge determined two city officials had engaged in misfeasance by holding back the development and ordered the city to pay Marquess $5 million. Orlikow was not a defendant in the case.

The city appealed the latter ruling during two days of court hearings earlier this month. A decision in that appeal has yet to be handed down.

Marquess, who has pre-sold some units on the land, deferred comment on Thursday's vote, stating via text message that he wishes to see the wording of a city planning report that was amended at the committee stage.
The developer said he was surprised when the original report made recommendations about how close his development can come to the rail line along the north end of the property.
CBC News

[Wpg_Guy]

Judge made 'palpable' errors in ruling city deliberately stalled Parker lands development: appeal court
Evidence fell short to prove 2 city planners were liable for 'misfeasance in public office'
Santiago Arias Orozco · CBC News · Posted: Apr 18, 2025

The City of Winnipeg has been exonerated from stalling a 1,900-unit residential development planned for the former Parker lands.

Manitoba's highest court overturned a King's Bench judge's decision that found two planning officials deliberately slowed Fulton Grove's progress.

Developer Andrew Marquess of Gem Equities filed a lawsuit against the city, borne out of his frustration with the pace of development on lands he acquired from the city in a 2009 swap for land he owned in Fort Rouge.

In his initial statement of claim in 2018 and subsequent hearings in 2021, Marquess argued the city and its officials acted improperly when they refused to allow the development to proceed.

In a July 2023 decision, Manitoba Court of King's Bench Judge Shauna McCarthy wrote there were "several instances of bad faith and deliberate conduct" on the part of chief city planner Braden Smith and senior planner Michael Robinson, for taking actions that stymied efforts by Marquess to develop 19 hectares in Fort Garry.

She wrote the two planners did this at the direction of River Heights-Fort Garry Coun. John Orlikow, who was not a defendant in the case.

While Marquess was seeking $18 million in damages, the court awarded him $5 million.

The city appealed the decision with Manitoba's highest court last year and a panel of three judges ruled McCarthy made "palpable and overriding errors" in some findings as well as in the inferences she drew from the evidence to determine Smith and Robinson engaged in unlawful and deliberate conduct as public officers.

In a 99-page decision, written by Court of Appeal Justice James G. Edmond on behalf of the panel and released on Thursday, the court determined McCarthy "erred in her application of the law in two respects."

The trial judge failed to examine the parameters Smith and Robinson were compelled to act within as public officers, according to the appeal's decision.

She also failed to address if the two city employees were aware of their conduct's unlawfulness and the likelihood of harm to the developer in order to support her findings.

"The evidence falls short of meeting the high bar of proving that Smith and Robinson are liable for misfeasance in public office," the appeal's decision said.

'Nothing nefarious'
The Court of Appeal said there must be an assessment of a public officer's authority before it can be determined whether it was exceeded. However, the trial judge didn't consider the relevant policy framework of the city planners to determine if they breached their obligations.

In one instance, McCarthy found Robinson's attempt to persuade an administrator of the zoning and permits division to deny the developer a permit to stockpile and grade fill at the Parker Lands site "was an abuse of his authority and was done for an improper purpose with conscious disregard for the consequences to Gem."

But the panel of judges, who reviewed other alleged errors from the trial judge, said the evidence showed Robinson had instead investigated the "appropriateness of the permit applications."

"Robinson was performing his job as a planner when he raised concerns regarding grades, drainage and the effect on the forest located within the Parker Lands," the appeal court's decision said.

"The evidence does not establish that Robinson did anything unlawful for an improper purpose or outside his statutory authority."



McCarthy had also concluded Smith and Robinson breached their duty by seeking feedback from Orlikow. But the appeal court disagreed, saying there was "nothing nefarious about meeting with and receiving feedback" from the councillor.

The Court of Appeal decision said planners go to stakeholders, including local area councillors to solicit feedback to develop a robust plan.

In a similar fashion "Marquess and other representatives of Gem met with Orlikow on numerous occasions as well to discuss his views and the planning process," the appeal's decision said.

While public officials may at some point act outside their authority by seeking feedback from a councillor, McCarthy failed to determine how Smith and Robinson could have crossed that line.

The trial judge had also found Smith and Robinson had a reckless or conscious disregard for the interests of the developer.

But the appeal court said she did not do a robust assessment to determine the city employees' conduct was deliberate attempts to slow down the development application and that they consciously disregarded its interest with the misconduct.

"Absent some awareness of harm, there is no basis on which to conclude that Smith and Robinson breached an obligation that they owed to [the developer]," the appeal's decision said.

Regarding Smith, the trial judge found he made deliberate attempts to thwart the development applications when he ordered the peer review of the project's secondary plan, shortly after Orlikow expressed his lack of support for the proposed development.

But the Court of Appeal found Smith's conduct was more consistent with performing his duties as the chief planner, ensuring the development was consistent with bylaws.

His actions "do not support an inference that he acted deliberately for an illegal or improper purpose" to slow down the development, according to the appeal's decision.

"I would allow the appeals, set aside the judgment … and dismiss the action in its entirety," Edmond said in the decision.

Mayor Scott Gillingham applauded the decision and said the city is continuing to work with the developer to move the Fulton Grove project forward, with the hope that construction can begin this year.

"This is a significant legal and financial win for the City of Winnipeg, and it confirms that our staff acted in good faith while managing a complex file," Gillingham said a statement provided to CBC News.

"It also makes clear that Coun. Orlikow was doing his job appropriately in representing his constituents. Dialogue between councillors and staff is essential to serving the public effectively."

[Wpg_Guy]

Winnipeg developer to ask Supreme Court to hear contention city stalled his development

Manitoba Court of Appeal overturned lower-court ruling that 2 city planners engaged in misfeasance

Bartley Kives · Posted: Apr 23, 2025

Developer Andrew Marquess plans to ask the Supreme Court of Canada to hear his contention that the City of Winnipeg slowed the progress of a 1,900-unit residential development in Fort Garry, lawyer Dave Hill said Tuesday.

Last week, the Manitoba Court of Appeal overturned a July 2023 Court of King's Bench decision that said two city planners had engaged in misfeasance by stalling the development of the Fulton Grove development on the former Parker lands.

In the 2023 decision, King's Bench Justice Shauna McCarthy concluded that former chief city planner Braden Smith and senior planner Michael Robinson had engaged in "bad faith and deliberate conduct" to stymie efforts by Marquess to develop the 19-hectare parcel of land he initially acquired from the city in a 2009 land swap.

McCarthy ordered the city to pay Marquess $5 million. The City of Winnipeg appealed.

In a 99-page decision issued on Thursday, a panel of three appeal court judges ruled McCarthy made "palpable and overriding errors" in some findings, as well as in the inferences she drew from the evidence to determine Smith and Robinson engaged in unlawful and deliberate conduct as public officers.

"The evidence falls short of meeting the high bar of proving that Smith and Robinson are liable for misfeasance in public office," Court of Appeal Justice James Edmond wrote on behalf of the panel.

Marquess has 60 days to ask the Supreme Court of Canada to consider an appeal of the Manitoba Appeal Court decision. Requests of this nature are required because the Supreme Court only chooses to hear cases that settle matters of public importance.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said Wednesday that Marquess is entitled to ask the Supreme Court to consider hearing an appeal.

Gillingham said he was pleased the Manitoba Court of Appeal made it clear that River Heights-Fort Garry Coun. John Orlikow did nothing wrong in his communication with city planners.

While Orlikow was not a defendant in Marquess's claim against the city, the Court of King's Bench declared Robinson and Braden were acting at his behest.

"The original ruling from the original case was such that it really left a lot of ambiguity and uncertainty," Gillingham said.

"Councillors and I were wondering, 'Well, can we or can we not talk to city staff?' and so I was really pleased to see the outcome of the appeal."

CBC News

[BlackDog204]

This development...

[The Jabroni]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

This development...

Yeah...

Too much tomfoolery going around. I don't care who's in the wrong or right. Just get this going already!

[FactaNV]

It'd probably be done by now without the fuckery haha.

[theruler462]

Carrington Dev's website shows two upcoming projects for Fulton Grove. A Phase 1 at 190 units and a phase 2 at 215 units. Similar numbers to the Station Place project. I don't think I was aware that these were in the mill. Hopefully they're not 500m long 5 story buildings.

[bomberjet]

They would have to be in the far east end of the site. The high density, high rise zone. If this development turns out like the renders and video, the mid/high density area seems kind of decent.

I see their London St project is also show on the website. Looks similar to the previous building that burned down in construction.

[ColdRain&Snow]

Originally Posted by theruler462

Carrington Dev's website shows two upcoming projects for Fulton Grove. A Phase 1 at 190 units and a phase 2 at 215 units. Similar numbers to the Station Place project. I don't think I was aware that these were in the mill. Hopefully they're not 500m long 5 story buildings.

Good catch. The link is here for others who want to see their planned projects.

https://www.rentcarrington.ca/partnerships

[Kinguni]

Crews have been working removing the piles of earth left over from the retention pond and BRT underpass for the past couple of weeks.

[plrh]

Originally Posted by Kinguni

Crews have been working removing the piles of earth left over from the retention pond and BRT underpass for the past couple of weeks.

Are they removing them or moving them around? I was involved in that lake project back in the day, and there was a calculated volume moved to the Fulton Grove property. It would be poor engineering if it was too much.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by theruler462

Carrington Dev's website shows two upcoming projects for Fulton Grove. A Phase 1 at 190 units and a phase 2 at 215 units. Similar numbers to the Station Place project. I don't think I was aware that these were in the mill. Hopefully they're not 500m long 5 story buildings.

I’ve talked to them, the two towers will be very similar to the Station Place towers under construction.

[ColdRain&Snow]

Originally Posted by Biff

I’ve talked to them, the two towers will be very similar to the Station Place towers under construction.

Great news! The more density near Beaumont Station the better.

[Kinguni]

Originally Posted by plrh

Are they removing them or moving them around? I was involved in that lake project back in the day, and there was a calculated volume moved to the Fulton Grove property. It would be poor engineering if it was too much.

Removing, but certainly not at a fast pace.

[blueandgoldguy]

The set-up looks terrible. You have to walk a long way from anywhere in this development to get to the rapid transit.

[bomberjet]

They, GEM, were definetly pissed that after the land transfer they only ended up with this smaller parcel of land. Due to the retention pond, BRT and hydro lines. The walk is ~5 mins to the BRT station for most of the development, which isn't bad. It's just on wind swept open land so kind of sucks. So far there aren't really any developments built right on top of the stations. Fort rouge yards thing is probably the closest.

[WildCake]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

The set-up looks terrible. You have to walk a long way from anywhere in this development to get to the rapid transit.

How would you change it up? The parcel of land is what it is, and the BRT station isn't going anywhere. Not sure what else could be done other than a feeder bus, but 800m being the farthest point in this development isn't an absurd distance to cover assuming no mobility challenges.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by WildCake

How would you change it up? The parcel of land is what it is, and the BRT station isn't going anywhere. Not sure what else could be done other than a feeder bus, but 800m being the farthest point in this development isn't an absurd distance to cover assuming no mobility challenges.

800m is considered the de facto catchment area for rapid transit development.

[Itjustdoesthatnow]

Absolutely bonkers that the dog park is being prioritized over higher density development immediately next to the BRT stop here.