Winnipeg Construction

[DowntownWpg]

Originally Posted by roccerfeller

For what its worth:

I received an email from Glasshouse condos (Urban Capital) advertising the construction of its model suite, presentation centre as being "well under way" in the atrium of Cityplace Mall,

plus a "pop up" store where one can see building renderings, suite floorplans, a furnished model suite, and the "surrounding neighbourhood including Centrepoint"


Opening is May 11/12th.

... because the best way to sell people on the idea of moving to downtown Winnipeg, is to have them visit the Cityplace mall!

[Cyro]

Bring em in...Make em visit sounds like an idea...pull em in form the suburbs,the winnipeg comfort zone...anyway hope it succeeds, some winnipeger's need to get out of the 80's

[flatlander]

The Alt hotel and Glasshouse project are separate but connected structures, right?

[Shinook]

Originally Posted by DowntownWpg

... because the best way to sell people on the idea of moving to downtown Winnipeg, is to have them visit the Cityplace mall!

A mall that is likley going to become a hot commodity for retail and commercial space in the next few years, thanks to the SHED.

[armorand93]

Originally Posted by Shinook

A mall that is likley going to become a hot commodity for retail and commercial space in the next few years, thanks to the SHED.

And then, I can show my friend from Kitchener-Waterloo more than empty stops and homeless people

[chrisallard5454]

Originally Posted by h0twired

What about a fused grid layout?

He's got a point, nothing will replace the pedestrian activity that a grid network provides. Nothing else compares to its efficiency. This is coming from someone who walks from Downtown to Erin and Notre Dame on a daily basis.

[chrisallard5454]

I walked past Glasshouse today (as I do everyday) and stopped to take a picture. The construction seems to have started for the Glasshouse portion of the development as the piles have already been driven. I am not to familiar with how major developments work but does this mean that Glasshouse is a go?

Common sense to me would say that they wouldn't begin driving piles if they weren't going to commit to the Condo's sometime soon. Either that, or maybe they have reverted to the original design with a parkade all the way?

[1ajs]

those are for the pit wall

[chrisallard5454]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

those are for the pit wall

Pit Wall?

[Mininari]

Originally Posted by chrisallard5454

Pit Wall?

Sounds like they be digging a bit...

[cllew]

It's to try and keep both Hargrave and Ellice from caving into the basement excavation for the Glasshouse.

You may or may not remember the cave in at William and Sherbrook March 2012 when the shoring failed for excavation of the new woman's hospital.

[lilwayne]

i cant believe you guys are questioning whether glasshouse will get built or not, i for one think that this will be a very appealing location for many Winnipeg residents, especially those between the ages of 21 and 35. Its a new up and coming neighborhood, walking distance to restaurants, and bars. A few feet from the university, mts center, millennium library and the convention center. Its central location so its 10 minutes from almost any area in the city. Not to mention Its like 2 blocks from the forks. People keep complaining and focusing on how dirty and crime ridden our downtown is but i cant imagine how different it will look once alt hotel, the wcc expansion, the wag expansion, the u of w fieldhouse, sopo development, fortress realty development all materialize.

just adding the hydro building, buhler center, u of w science building, and the chrm have done a lot to improve the dt area. But those are minor compared to all the major projects on the horizon for the core.

dcondos
bond tower
heritage landing
fortress realty development
wcc expansion
wag expansion
alt hotel
so/po
parcel 4 surface lot
lakeview hotels
u of w fieldhouse

and maybe more that we still dont know about the face of downtown will change pretty drastically soon enough.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by chrisallard5454

Pit Wall?

It's the shoring wall for the excavation.

[chrisallard5454]

Originally Posted by h0twired

It's the shoring wall for the excavation.

With excavation beginning is that a sure investment in construction then, or is that something that can easily be halted? I am just trying to gauge the commitment to the Condo site.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by flatlander

The Alt hotel and Glasshouse project are separate but connected structures, right?

They will be connected by a 2nd storey walkway over the back lane area.

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by chrisallard5454

With excavation beginning is that a sure investment in construction then, or is that something that can easily be halted? I am just trying to gauge the commitment to the Condo site.

In that picture, you're looking at the parkade end of the site. The condo tower will be going at the north end. So can't really tell from the picture. But if they're digging a hole where the condo tower would be, then I would say yes it is a go. Wouldn't dig a hole for no reason.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

In that picture, you're looking at the parkade end of the site. The condo tower will be going at the north end. So can't really tell from the picture. But if they're digging a hole where the condo tower would be, then I would say yes it is a go. Wouldn't dig a hole for no reason.

....sorry, actually the condo tower goes on the southern end of the site, closest to Portage (right where that picture is). The shoring work visible in the picture was the start of the original parkade foundation which started in that location. It is now delayed while they reconfigure the design. They will ultimately use the work already done so no money wasted.

[rypinion]

Originally Posted by Biff

....sorry, actually the condo tower goes on the southern end of the site

Well that's actually kind of a bummer (despite it probably being best for sales). I was hoping for some residents right on Ellice.

[steveosnyder]

Originally Posted by h0twired

What about a fused grid layout?

The fact that the Commercial zone (as antiquated as that is) is segregated from the residential by a major street creates problems... It's the only path in and out for cars, so it will have a lot of cars on it.

Here are 2 examples: Minto/West End -- you have the Safeway on Sargent Ave between Sherbrook and Maryland, and you have a Sobey's, Walmart, et al. at Waverley West. Crime aside, would you feel safe walking to the Safeway? I would -- traffic goes much slower in that area. But even if I lived a 2 minute walk from Waverley West I wouldn't walk there ever and part of that is the fact that Waverley is the only path out of most of those neighbourhoods. Just like in the Fused Grid pic above, the only major street in and out is the Commercial strip.

When you build a grid pattern, each street has the potential for traffic (and I don't mean just cars). If every street can be used to equal proportions, then any street could create density. But it also means that any street can take traffic away. From the West End: Sargent, Ellice, Wellington/Notre Dame, Portage, McDermot, and William all come into downtown. They all share vehicular traffic, so none (except Portage) really creates problems for pedestrians.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

Here are 2 examples: Minto/West End -- you have the Safeway on Sargent Ave between Sherbrook and Maryland, and you have a Sobey's, Walmart, et al. at Waverley West. Crime aside, would you feel safe walking to the Safeway? I would -- traffic goes much slower in that area. But even if I lived a 2 minute walk from Waverley West I wouldn't walk there ever and part of that is the fact that Waverley is the only path out of most of those neighbourhoods. Just like in the Fused Grid pic above, the only major street in and out is the Commercial strip.

That is assuming that "major street" in a fused grid layout is always similar to that of Waverley or Kenaston. I lived in McKenzie Towne in Calgary for a number of years and walked the fused grid layout there quite a bit to get to my Sobeys and never had issues crossing the major roads that surrounded the commercial area. They all had very wide boulevards, well market crosswalks and were more like Broadway than Portage.

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

When you build a grid pattern, each street has the potential for traffic (and I don't mean just cars). If every street can be used to equal proportions, then any street could create density. But it also means that any street can take traffic away. From the West End: Sargent, Ellice, Wellington/Notre Dame, Portage, McDermot, and William all come into downtown. They all share vehicular traffic, so none (except Portage) really creates problems for pedestrians.

However the equal automobile access to Portage (and other major streets) is a problem if anyone ever wants to see a westbound rapid transit solution from downtown.