Winnipeg | Downtown | Portage Place | Redevelopment | U/C

[Sheepish]

Million dollar question...based on this 'most realistic rendering', is the skywalk refacing part of the project now? (please say yes)

[bomberjet]

I'm still wondering why they demolished so much of the original building. And the tower isn't even going there. Going on the "pad" from the original mall proposal.

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by BAKGUY

Still attractive but the building has been circumcised by several floors from the initial suggestion of 15 - 16.

Looks like it's about 15 storeys to me haha

[WestEndWander]

I'm curious as to how this whole redevelopment is all going to play out visually?

Will there be a cohesive look from end to end in terms of materiality? Will the old PP facade remain with these new buildings plunked on top? Will the skywalks be re-done in a similar fashion to relate to the new builds? How will it all relate to what is taking place at the old HudBay building?

There is a huge opportunity here to change the feel and aesthetic of half of our most prominent thoroughfare downtown. Hopefully they will nail it.

[neutroniks]

Originally Posted by Malcsta

At this rate I doubt Winnipeg will ever see a new development with 20 + floors

Short and stubby seems to be the norm, now

Winnipeg - The City of Chodes

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Looks like it's about 15 storeys to me haha

I count 12 for sure, perhaps 13 but unsure that is so. Look to the clear windows for a floor count.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Sheepish

Million dollar question...based on this 'most realistic rendering', is the skywalk refacing part of the project now? (please say yes)

I was wondering the same.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by WestEndWander

I'm curious as to how this whole redevelopment is all going to play out visually?

Will there be a cohesive look from end to end in terms of materiality? Will the old PP facade remain with these new buildings plunked on top? Will the skywalks be re-done in a similar fashion to relate to the new builds? How will it all relate to what is taking place at the old HudBay building?

There is a huge opportunity here to change the feel and aesthetic of half of our most prominent thoroughfare downtown. Hopefully they will nail it.

I think the health care will read as a separate development on the other side of the street.

[Mr Tall Forehead]

I don't get the whinging about the height...

It's a medical care centre. If anyone can send along photos or renders of other high rise medical centres out there, have at it.

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by Malcsta

At this rate I doubt Winnipeg will ever see a new development with 20 + floors

Short and stubby seems to be the norm, now

Solara Flats, 308 Colony completed earlier this year is 22 and the PP residential is planned for 21 (19 levels on 2 storey podium).

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by WestEndWander

I'm curious as to how this whole redevelopment is all going to play out visually?

Will there be a cohesive look from end to end in terms of materiality? Will the old PP facade remain with these new buildings plunked on top? Will the skywalks be re-done in a similar fashion to relate to the new builds? How will it all relate to what is taking place at the old HudBay building?

There is a huge opportunity here to change the feel and aesthetic of half of our most prominent thoroughfare downtown. Hopefully they will nail it.

The Centre Block of Portage Place is still in the design phase so until that is completed and released we won’t know.

Part of the City of Winnipeg's investment in Portage Place included funding for skywalk upgrades:

Redevelopment of Portage Place Mall will be among the largest private sector investments undertaken in Winnipeg’s downtown history and will support several Council-approved plans, including the Strategic Priorities Action Plan, that are related to downtown redevelopment. The Public Service recommends the following grants of up to $39.7 million to support this project:
• An estimated $13.6 million tax increment financing (TIF) grant equal to 80 percent of the incremental municipal property taxes generated by this development over 25 years (the value of this grant measured in current dollars at the start of the TIF period is $6.7 million);
• $10 million from the City’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) to support the housing component;

• $7.5 million to extend Edmonton Street north of Portage Avenue and to upgrade other streets nearby;

• Up to $6.5 million to cost share a new publicly accessible skywalk, repairs to existing skywalks, lighting and security features located within this development, to be provided from 2024 to 2025 and funded from unallocated amounts within the City’s Strategic Infrastructure Basket from the Province of Manitoba

• $2.1 million to support construction of a community drop-in space located within this development.

The grants noted above would be fully funded from the incremental municipal property taxes generated by a redevelopment of the mall, money that has been approved in a previous City
budget and the five-year Capital Forecast, as well as housing and infrastructure money that the City will get from the federal and provincial governments. Providing these grants to TN will not
impact the City’s current multi-year tax supported operating budget.

-Shareholder Approval for a Sale of the Portage Place Mall Assets, Assignment of Related Skywalk Agreements and Financial Support for a Redevelopment of the Mall

TN owns the east skywalk and they gifted the west skywalk to SCO for ownership and programming.

[Wpg_Guy]

Winnipeg’s Portage Ave. skyline is changing with the addition of a tower crane at the site of the Portage Place redevelopment.

Currently standing 207 feet above grade, the presence of the crane signals a move from deconstruction to the building phase of the Healthcare Centre of Excellence (HCCE), marking an exciting milestone for the project as well as for PCL Construction building crews. Over the spring and summer, the HCCE will start to take shape as 12 storeys rise up from the framework of the current structure. Capable of lifting 16,000 pounds at the tip, the crane will self-climb to 261 feet above grade as the tower grows.

When complete, the new Portage Place campus will bring healthcare, housing, essential services, amenities and green spaces to the downtown community.

As the project ramps up there are more exciting announcements and milestones to come. Keep tabs on the latest project progress, news, milestones and mall events by signing up to receive regular redevelopment updates directly from True North Real Estate Development.

True North Sports + Entertainment

[The Jabroni]

Originally Posted by Malcsta

At this rate I doubt Winnipeg will ever see a new development with 20 + floors

Short and stubby seems to be the norm, now

Hey! HEY!! They're growers, not showers!

I'm hoping that they do reclad the skywalks over portage. It would be an absolute crime if they don't.

[borkborkbork]

the render with the northern lights reflecting off the building seems to take a bit of creative license

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by BAKGUY

I count 12 for sure, perhaps 13 but unsure that is so. Looks for the clear windows for a floor count.

12 is correct.

From the January 27, 2026 update:

Construction and demolition activities are on schedule for the 300,000-square-foot, 12-storey Healthcare Centre of Excellence (HCCE), as part of True North Real Estate Development’s (TNRED) redevelopment of Portage Place.
Healthcare Centre of Excellence on schedule as part of Portage Place redevelopment

[zalf]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

the render with the northern lights reflecting off the building seems to take a bit of creative license

Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within Portage and Edmonton?

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Malcsta

At this rate I doubt Winnipeg will ever see a new development with 20 + floors

Short and stubby seems to be the norm, now

What I find hard to wrap my head around is that Halifax, a city roughly half Winnipeg's size has so many 20+ storey towers under construction or proposed. More than half of the towers below are U/C. They have many more towers between 10 and 20 storeys under Construction as well.

Halifax
40+ storeys - 5
30+ storeys - 11
20+ storeys - 11

I wonder what the differences are that allow for them to build so many buildings and for Winnipeg to not.

Winnipeg
40+ storeys - 0
30+ storeys - 0
20+ storeys - 2
10+ Storeys - 5 to 10

[pspeid]

I love the inevitable flow of comments we read on public forums. Specifically with regards to construction; our comments always seem to follow this pattern:

1-Initial announcement: joy, celebration, excitement, anticipation
2-First renders: hesitant endorsement, hairsplitting on details
3-Gap before actual construction: carping about overall design, questioning viability of project, predictions of cancellation
4-Construction begins: brief return to happiness upon sight of tower cranes, followed by questioning the meaning of said tower cranes
5-Completion: disappointment, shame, grief, intense melancholy over the state of the city

Of course it isn't just this forum. I remember meetings at a former employer where positive news introduced at the start of the meeting inevitably crumbled into mournful declarations of inevitable failure and collapse.

People are funny.

[Sheepish]

Spied...is that the best you got...'people are funny'?
More like cynicism and dissatisfaction has been engrained after years of disappointment.
But the reality is that there has been an unfortunate cycle:
1) Developments announced. Some great. Some...meh
2) One of three things happens...Development gets built as proposed, development gets altered (change of design, cheaper materials, shorter, no balconies etc etc) and now falls in the Meh category, or it doesn't get built at all leaving an empty lot.
3) Sometimes the reality of a development (even as planned) does not meet up with expectations of the renderings.
4) often the belief that said development will be a 'game changer' is not met by reality.
5) Ultimate belief that something better could be in that space
6) inevitable (and not unjustifiable - double negative alert) envy that other jurisdictions (even smaller ones like Halifax) have more interesting developments going on (read taller buildings).

And this doesn't even address what's at ground level - poverty, homelessness, crime.

Please...This isn't meant to be a sky is falling message, but rather a call for better...better plans, better execution, higher expectations, and yes addressing the needs of the needy and troubled.

[drew]

Originally Posted by Biff

What I find hard to wrap my head around is that Halifax, a city roughly half Winnipeg's size has so many 20+ storey towers under construction or proposed. More than half of the towers below are U/C. They have many more towers between 10 and 20 storeys under Construction as well.

Halifax
40+ storeys - 5
30+ storeys - 11
20+ storeys - 11

I wonder what the differences are that allow for them to build so many buildings and for Winnipeg to not.

Winnipeg
40+ storeys - 0
30+ storeys - 0
20+ storeys - 2
10+ Storeys - 5 to 10

Confined geography and an ocean. Same effect as Vancouver.

Also they were smarter and kept all their universities downtown.