Winnipeg | Downtown | The Forks Market | Railside at The Forks

[bomberjet]

I went by the Forks again today. It's Darco doing utility work. Looks like sewer and water connections based on them working at the fire hydrant and the street cuts made in the Izzy Asper. There is a site trailer, presumably not for Darco but a larger contractor. Maybe not though.

With the site fencing posts in place, and I believe the parking area blocked off, hoping they move into building construction soon after. But they could just go quite again once Darco is done and open the lots again for parking.

[bon_vivant]

Good grief. The glacial pace of projects like this and the Sutton...

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by bon_vivant

Good grief. The glacial pace of projects like this and the Sutton...

just looked at the railside master plan. we were supposed to have 141 units built by 2022, and another 188 built between 2022-2026.

[trueviking]

329 all in 2026, maybe?

[neutroniks]

Originally Posted by trueviking

329 all in 2026, maybe?

That would be a fever dream and transformational. Anthony Urso had an awesome drone shot of downtown, and it still breaks my heart seeing all the surface lots. Esp, w/ the NE view from the forks with the railside just so BARE. Just begging to be built on.

[Kresimir]

Originally Posted by neutroniks

That would be a fever dream and transformational. Anthony Urso had an awesome drone shot of downtown, and it still breaks my heart seeing all the surface lots. Esp, w/ the NE view from the forks with the railside just so BARE. Just begging to be built on.

We desperately need more onerous taxation of of surface lots downtown, like enough to make it unprofitable to just sit on these lots forever. Maybe pair it with some more dev incentives to fill such lots or even to put parking underground/in structures

[neutroniks]

Maybe I dreamt it, or gaslit myself, but I could swear I saw somewhere years ago, where the city was encouraging developers to incentivize parking lot owners with making the first level of underground parking public/paid parking, much like the underground parking of TNS. Was that ever a thing, or am I just dreaming it?

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

new rendering

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

New rendering

[jim_bred]

I love how unique all the buildings are.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by jim_bred

I love how unique all the buildings are.

I know many of us are disappointed at the fairly limited scale, and have concerns about whether the public spaces will end up dealing with ugly safety issues.

But.

If this is successful, the one hope I have is that it will create a local model that could be dropped into other developments and neighbourhoods. These buildings, though undersized to this site, could easily pop up all over the city as infill, to replace old plazas, etc. And having one visible example of this kind of mid-scale development with mixed, contemporary forms of MFR could provide a local template or example. "We're going to build a railside type community..."

[Sheepish]

At this point...they are just drawings. The designs are unique. Hopefully they actually get built and these designs are realized. (PS...refer to Winnipeg Unbuilt...lots of unique 'buildings' there too)

[trueviking]

^ I definitely don't agree with the development being undersized....a lack of density is the last feeling people will have when walking through the neighbourhood......I can guarantee that.

[trueviking]

also....nice renderings....hopefully these two start soon.

[neutroniks]

I think the height is perfect tbh, because you wouldn't want super tall buildings imposing and covering the skyline. The view of Portage & Main from the Winnipeg sign and other walking paths around the forks is great to see when walking/running/cycling. Would be a shame if we were to cover that vantage point.

[trueviking]

^ you couldn't have a pedestrian focussed neighbourhood if the buildings were tall...you either get two 25 storey towers in an open field, or you get 10 smaller buildings arranged around narrow lanes and sunlit courtyards...you don't get both.

you couldn't even really do it with 7 or 8 storey buildings....you would have to make the spaces around them bigger.....4-6 is right.

[neutroniks]

Originally Posted by trueviking

^ you couldn't have a pedestrian focussed neighbourhood if the buildings were tall...you either get two 25 storey towers in an open field, or you get 10 smaller buildings arranged around narrow lanes and sunlit courtyards...you don't get both.

you couldn't even really do it with 7 or 8 storey buildings....you would have to make the spaces around them bigger.....4-6 is right.

Like southern france and much of europe, many of the buildings are 4-6 stories, but because it's EVERYWHERE, it "feels" tall, in comparison, because you're literally walking everywhere.

[Flatland Metropolis]

Anything is better than empty underutilized lots. But I think the 4-6 stories seems like it would fit in well here. There are stills some empty lots in the main downtown core if we have hopes for more 20 story plus locations.

[neutroniks]

^^ if they rose up towers in all the empty lots on East Portage + 201 Main + Graham Mall between Fort & Garry, would be game changers.

[bomberjet]

We'll see what comes from the Downtown Corridors study in east P&M area. Could be some big changes in terms of general access and land configuration. Ie: some private lands being used for transit. For sure the triangle lot south of William Stephenson will be carved up. We'll see in Bond Redux survives the chopping block.