Winnipeg | Exchange District | Developments & Discussions

[cllew]

[QUOTE=bomberjet;10426823]Secret stash of old lights.

[QUOTE]

That is what is left of the parking lot from the former King St. substation / City of Winnipeg Police dept garage. The other parking lot on the south side of the building is now an outdoor transformer site.

As MB Hydro owns the building the Police Garage used, they converted it for rental purposes into a movie staging area that movie companies were using as a secure compound for their trucks.

https://www.hydro.mb.ca/articles/2023/06/why_some_of_manitoba_hydros_buildings_make_it_into_movies/

I wonder if they get another rental the junk in the parking area will be moved back to the Hydro Waverly Complex for recycling to make way for the vehicle parking.

[bomberjet]

Thats exactly what the person I was visiting said. Movies and police dog training.

[neutroniks]

Who's got the inside scoop on 168 Bannatyne? Moveable crane is on site and the roof has been completely removed and the interior is being removed through the ceiling. Any renders?

I wonder if they're finally letting that penthouse proposal from over a decade ago finally go through?

[Biff]

My understanding was it is supposed to be some sort of conference centre/meeting space.

546... Architecture is the designer.

[plrh]

Originally Posted by neutroniks

Who's got the inside scoop on 168 Bannatyne? Moveable crane is on site and the roof has been completely removed and the interior is being removed through the ceiling. Any renders?

I wonder if they're finally letting that penthouse proposal from over a decade ago finally go through?

This is from the permits department:

23-225138 OP 168 Bannatyne AVE Interior and Exterior Alterations. Interior and exterior alterations in an existing multi-story, single-tenant building. Exterior alterations include New front & rear roof cabs to house new stairs and accessible lift. Interior alterations include full interior renovation c/w washrooms for new intended use. Structural, mechanical, and electrical work being done. Issued 2024-03-20

23-109381 DP 168 Bannatyne AVE Permit. Development Permit for a roof top deck and a roof top addition to house the stairs and lift. Existing penthouse to be demolished Issued 2023-05-10

[Labroco]

Originally Posted by Biff

My understanding was it is supposed to be some sort of conference centre/meeting space.

546... Architecture is the designer.

Would make a great home for someone…

[Kris22]

Originally Posted by Biff

546... Architecture is the designer.

I wonder if they will manage to turn a simple addition into some sort of non-functional garbage. “But it looks cool!”

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Labroco

Would make a great home for someone…

Funny you say that. I have always liked that little building. Every time I have eaten at Hermanos I think to myself that it would be great to live in.

It would be awesome for a developer to buy up the lots on either side and fill them with walk-ups of similar scale. I would imagine that wouldn't be cost effective though.

[neutroniks]

Agreed. Always felt those parking lots could use a little something.

There was a proposed penthouse for that thing in the 2000s from the same guys that designed the cube.

[drew]

Originally Posted by Biff

It would be awesome for a developer to buy up the lots on either side and fill them with walk-ups of similar scale. I would imagine that wouldn't be cost effective though.

I bet the situation for those lots is that you cannot buy what isn't for sale.

[Biff]

I hear you.

[neutroniks]

A friend of mine has a couple of clients that own parking lots in the exchange, and they generate over a million dollars annually. if you have that kind of passive income, I'd be just as reluctant to sell unless someone throws "f*ck you money" levels of money at you hahaha.

[Biff]

It would be interesting to know how the developer at 127 Bannatyne acquired the parking lot for their building. I guess it is possible they previously owned it.

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by neutroniks

A friend of mine has a couple of clients that own parking lots in the exchange, and they generate over a million dollars annually. if you have that kind of passive income, I'd be just as reluctant to sell unless someone throws "f*ck you money" levels of money at you hahaha.

Is there any mechanism the city can leverage to pressure the owners to develop? Maybe a downtown land value tax to replace property tax? Tricky situation when dealing with parking lot barons haha.

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by FactaNV

Is there any mechanism the city can leverage to pressure the owners to develop? Maybe a downtown land value tax to replace property tax? Tricky situation when dealing with parking lot barons haha.

Taxing parking lots is a good idea but it would require an amendment to the City of Winnipeg Charter by the provincial government.

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

Taxing parking lots is a good idea but it would require an amendment to the City of Winnipeg Charter by the provincial government.

Sounds like a great priority for the city, especially as cash strapped as it is.

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by Biff

It would be interesting to know how the developer at 127 Bannatyne acquired the parking lot for their building. I guess it is possible they previously owned it.

Alston Properties Ltd., acquired the land at 127 Bannatyne as part of the purchase transaction of 433 Main Street back in 2018.

[neutroniks]

Originally Posted by FactaNV

Is there any mechanism the city can leverage to pressure the owners to develop? Maybe a downtown land value tax to replace property tax? Tricky situation when dealing with parking lot barons haha.

I heard a rumour but I'm not sure if it's true. Apparently some developers offer a percentage of revenue from the parking if the development has a public parking level a la True North Square if they're buying a parking lot from someone, just to kind of coax them into selling their cash cow.

[EndIt]

I feel like a tax on surface lots + a cap on rates could be a real policy winner.

Double the pressure to develop, the average person gets cheaper parking and I can't think of any voter who's going to sympathize with a rich landlord extracting rent on a patch of barely maintained gravel.

This topic reminds me of this insane article CBC ran in the latter days of COVID work from home: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/parking-lot-garage-survival-ottawa-pandemic-work-1.6573840

Won't someone PLEASE think of the innocent parking providers in our cities??? These brave heroes create over a quarter dozen full and part-time minimum-wage jobs, while enduring the brutal tasks of sometimes calling a tow truck or snow plough and finding new ways to avoid filling the potholes. :'(

[drew]

I think in the ideal situation the lots get developed as pressure for new buildings slowly ratchets up.

The problem in our downtown is that it's too big, and full of lots of existing, underused buildings. We are seeing more and more get converted into residential, and eventually there won't be that many left to choose from. At that point, property values for lots should increase to the point where lot owners might start to let them go.