Winnipeg | Downtown Developments & Discussions - Page 53

wags_in_the_peg · #**1041** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 5:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trueviking

I didn’t even know there was a Yuk Yuk’s in Winnipeg.

I’m not sure I’d blame downtown foot traffic. Do people really just wander by and decide to go to a comedy club?

I went 1 night when 1st opened, but since I've heard Zero ads on radio, tv, bus ads , social media. not sure where they were attracting customers from.

bomberjet · #**1042** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 5:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdwardTH

So is it just lowly city employees we are going to beat up on and force into the office or do we expect the same from their private-sector counterparts who are better-paid and have more disposable income to spend on lunch? Many people are still hybrid at their sister Canada Life and from what I hear still very common throughout banking and insurance. These are the people who should be supporting downtown businesses. City clerks making modest wages aren’t exactly a cash cow.

My company is on the private sector side of that equation and we're expected to be in office minimum (yes that's right) 5 days a week. Needless to say we lost many good people when the CEO said that line on camera. Based on our location, City Place food court get's a good chunk of the lunch hour business.

bomberjet · #**1043** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 5:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

I agree. Hopefully this opens up new opportunities for investors. The Canada One Centre will have a lot of office space to fill—I wonder how feasible a conversion to residential or mixed-use would be.

That building screams office building. Where as some of the other conversions looks more3 palatable as residential.

Wpg_Guy · #**1044** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 5:44 PM**

Canada Life employees only have to be in the office two days a week at their choosing, so it’s staggered.

Hydro employees are required to be in the office at least three days a week, work from home is on Mondays and Wednesdays.

wags_in_the_peg · #**1045** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 5:52 PM**

wow i'm very very shocked to hear about IG moving. they owned the building and are now going to be a tenant in another building. is there even a market for their building these days? good for Earl's & wpg square concourse, horrible news for Portage Ave west

wags_in_the_peg · #**1046** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 5:58 PM**

more on IG move - new building will not have a dedicated cafeteria with subsidized meals for employees. this was an external vendor providing this, all have been notified July 2028 no longer required.

Wpg_Guy · #**1047** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 6:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

wow i'm very very shocked to hear about IG moving. they owned the building and are now going to be a tenant in another building. is there even a market for their building these days? good for Earl's & wpg square concourse, horrible news for Portage Ave west

It doesn't appear to be, the former Wawanesa building on Broadway remains virtually empty.

bomberjet · #**1048** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 6:18 PM**

The IG thing feels like a cyclical investor type decision. The building is now 40 years old. Likely paid for. In need of major renovation (I assume). So either they enter another cycle of physical asset ownewrship (Ie: take another loan for a substantial sum of money, and pay it off over 30 years).

Or, divest the assets (and pocket the windfall) and pay rent. Which would be similar to paying a loan/mortgage to reno the current building. Feels like an investor retirement cash-out scheme. Senior IG ownership is surely at retirement age. I know of someone high up there who is recently retired.

Does Wawanesa pay for, and own, their new building?

Mr Tall Forehead · #**1049** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 6:28 PM**

Wawanesa leases their new building at TN square. As far as I’m aware, they own their old building on Broadway and are not really trying to sell or lease it.

Wpg_Guy · #**1050** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 6:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bomberjet

The IG thing feels like a cyclical investor type decision. The building is now 40 years old. Likely paid for. In need of major renovation (I assume). So either they enter another cycle of physical asset ownewrship (Ie: take another loan for a substantial sum of money, and pay it off over 30 years).

Or, divest the assets (and pocket the windfall) and pay rent. Which would be similar to paying a loan/mortgage to reno the current building. Feels like an investor retirement cash-out scheme. Senior IG ownership is surely at retirement age. I know of someone high up there who is recently retired.

Does Wawanesa pay for, and own, their new building?

Wawanesa does not own the new building, they are a long-term tenant, the ownership is True North Real Estate Development which is a partnership of True North, James Richardson & Sons and the Thomson family (Osmington Incorporated).

.

FactaNV · #**1051** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 6:35 PM**

Man good luck finding someone that can fill up that building. That end of downtown needs more business and private sector employment stat. I can see the social ills of the McDonalds up the road spreading.

bomberjet · #**1052** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 6:39 PM**

TNRED with the heavy hitters for sure. I was going to ask where they get their money, but somehow forgot about Thomson.

FactaNV · #**1053** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 6:42 PM**

We seriously need to attract some mooe corporate and large private business to Winnipeg. Everything is MMF, Treaty One and TNRED these days. Its nice to have investors but 2/3s is government money - we need more capital stat.

cheswick · #**1054** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 6:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bomberjet

The IG thing feels like a cyclical investor type decision. The building is now 40 years old. Likely paid for. In need of major renovation (I assume). So either they enter another cycle of physical asset ownewrship (Ie: take another loan for a substantial sum of money, and pay it off over 30 years).

Or, divest the assets (and pocket the windfall) and pay rent. Which would be similar to paying a loan/mortgage to reno the current building. Feels like an investor retirement cash-out scheme. Senior IG ownership is surely at retirement age. I know of someone high up there who is recently retired.

Does Wawanesa pay for, and own, their new building?

"Owning and maintaining office buildings is not our core business. Because we own 447 Portage, we are responsible for significant capital and ongoing resources to maintain and modernize it. Leasing aligns with industry peers and allows us to focus investment on what matters most: our people, clients and communities"

bomberjet · #**1055** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 7:20 PM**

Bingo.

Focus investment on what maters most.... the shareholders. Fixed it.

Wpg_Guy · #**1056** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 8:29 PM**

Quote:

Downtown Winnipeg's only grocery store to close in November

A spokeswoman for Giant Tiger confirms that their downtown Winnipeg store will close this year. The grocery store is the only department store offering fresh food in the neighborhood.

The Giant Tiger store at 345 Donald St. in Winnipeg will close on Nov. 7, 2026, a company spokesperson said in an email to CBC/Radio-Canada.

The decision to close one of our stores is not taken lightly; it is the result of careful consideration and analysis. Our priority is to provide support to our staff and customers, and we are working closely with the employees concerned," explains the spokesperson.

The spokesman did not however indicate the reasons for this closure.

The company closed two of its Winnipeg stores in the summer of 2024.

A succession of closures
The closure comes less than a month after the announcement of a new grocery store in downtown Winnipeg. This Co-op store is expected to open in 2029, on the site of the new Place Portage. The full-line grocery store will help fill the food desert that exists in downtown Manitoba's capital.

Natalie Riediger, an assistant professor in the Department of Food Sciences and Human Nutrition at the University of Manitoba, says the closure is a significant loss to the neighbourhood.

This is undoubtedly very unfortunate for the neighborhood. It makes it harder for people to shop for groceries, she said in an interview Thursday.

She fears that another supermarket will not replace the one that is leaving, since the merchants do not want to set up in such low-income places.

It is difficult for supermarkets, such as Giant Tiger or convenience stores, to survive when the poverty rate is so high in the region, because they are unable to generate the revenue needed to sustain their business.

Local merchants have raised concerns about the neighbourhood's security needs.

Munther Zeid, owner of the Winnipeg-based grocery chain Food Fare, says the big supermarket chains don't see the business value in setting up shop in downtown Winnipeg.

He said downtown stores face a serious problem of shoplifting and believes that any supermarket that sets up shop there would need security reinforcements or a police presence on site.

Several small stores and convenience stores have closed their doors in recent months, including two 7-ELEVEN stores. In the past, the company has said it loses hundreds of dollars a day to shoplifting.

CBC/Radio-Canada

Kris22 · #**1057** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 9:59 PM**

^what is that headline? The Family Foods on Donald is still open is it not? And that’s an actual grocery store.

trueviking · #**1058** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 10:48 PM**

Work happening in the Peck Building. Cibinel sign on the fence so something more than interior demo.

Jeff · #**1059** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 10:58 PM**

Fair trade with the Peck building being restored (if true) vs. the closing of Giant Tiger.

trueviking · #**1060** Posted **Jul 30, 2026, 11:21 PM**

Looks like they are just doing the minimum to keep it standing. I thought the “church” sold it.