Winnipeg Construction

[Smron]

Sounds like this press conference was just a big waste of time. I'm surprised they set up a tent so that they could present no new information.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Smron

Sounds like this press conference was just a big waste of time. I'm surprised they set up a tent so that they could present no new information.

No, they did exactly what they set out to do. Introduce themselves to the Winnipeg market with a splash, created quite a bit of excitement and meet with local investors.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

CBC is reporting that Fortress doesn't yet own the land.

Maybe i'm dumb to the ways of the world, but don't you usually try and have these things locked up before having a press conference?

I wonder if the price of the lot was at all affected by today's announcement?

The owner of the lot was at the lunch with the developer, I highly doubt any of that portion of the project is in jeapordy.

[vid]

Originally Posted by chrisallard5454

The ignorance of some people is astounding. There was one individual on the FP forum who was literally concerned if a Windy city like Winnipeg could handle the construction of a 42 storey tower. After all look at the trouble they had with the stadium. Where is that eye roll emoticon?

Have they heard of the "Chicago of the South"?

[Wigglez]

Originally Posted by vid

Have they heard of the "Chicago of the South"?

I hear the kids just call it Chicago now.

Hopefully this project progresses quickly and successfully. Hopefully such a high profile company will be able to come through with a nice successful building and not a failure.

In the mean time we got a lot of construction going on, and a couple other projects to keep an eye on. Speaking of, is there any word on when we will get some kind of details about the hotel at portage/main? They seem further along, hopefully that announcement comes with purdy pictures!

[Spocket]

So , what exactly do we know about this Fortress thing anyway ?

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

By comparison..

When 201 Portage was announced to the public they already had several major tenants, model, and renderings.


http://youtu.be/_R0TedZo6qI

Fair enough, however keep in mind:
- pre-social network era
- bank (TD) constructed it, not a company like fortress
- office tower, not mixed use condos etc..
- every developer has their own rules (there is no right nor wrong way to do it)

ultimately, I think Fortress is doing this the right way. Keep in mind the context: a very ambitious tower, landmark structure, in a mid-size Canadian city not known for towers popping up all over the place on a regular basis.

They are actively pursuing the Winnipeg market, causing hype which generates interest, awareness which could lead to condo sales etc...they need to gauge investors, generate buzz too. Keep in mind, they will likely build something but they want it to be the best it can be (42 vs 30 storeys for ex). And no better way than to hype it up as much as possible to get anyone and everyone talking about it.

These aren't the "Ice Edge clowns" of the construction world; as Biff noted they are experienced and have done some stellar towers in their portfolio

I am very much looking forward to their ultimate proposal, and hopefully their confidence in Winnipeg rewarded with tons of support and demand; surprising us all with a truly landmark tower that goes as big as possible.

We've been waiting ages for these types of developments to go to Winnipeg; let's enjoy it

[Only The Lonely..]

Ok, last dumb question..

How can Fortress get through the pre-sales campaign without really revealing what this building will look like beforehand?

It seems a little chicken and egg to me.

Investors in the condos, leaseholders etc will want to know what they are buying into. On the other hand, pre-sales are necessary to determine the size, scope, finished appearance of this project.

This building has been hyped as being anywhere from 30 to 42 stories with a possible second tower.

That's quiet a discrepancy in budget and timeline for delivery.

Can anyone explain to me how such a development gets executed?

[Shinook]

So, those in the know regarding Fortress told us at least a week ago not to expect too much detail into today's announcement. They verbally told us this. Today's announcement did not contain too much detail, as expect by us all. Yet, many here are still complaining about not having much detail in today's announcement, even though that is exactly what they were told to expect.

[Tower Crane]

It sounds like some of you don't understand what a real press conference and project announcement is suppose to look like for a building that IS going to happen or start. There are no plans which would be a year off at best if they knew what they were building, you need those to know your costs so that you can start pre-sales and leasing to obtain 50% so that the lending institution will lend you the money.
They misrepresented as to what the press conference really was for, IT IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT, it is a very early proposal and nothing more at this stage.
So what have we learned...
1. Need Plans ( 1 Yr )
2. Obtain Costs ( 6 months )
3. Start PreSales - If 50% is achieved go to the next step if not project probably dies
4. If PreSales or Leasing is at 50% Lending Institutions money starts to flow
5. Project Starts ( Best case scenario 2 yrs till shovels in the ground )

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Bdog

It's pretty common to option the land, or conditionally purchase the land to get your approvals, etc. in place before actually buying it. Testing the waters out could be part of their due diligence...

exactly....the reason i knew that they were not going to unveil a sales campaign and a rendering is because they don't own the land and don't have an architect....they have done some preliminary musing but it isn't based on any real information.

they will shortly hire a design team and begin real investigation on what can happen on the site.....then they will likely purchase the land and move to the next phase, which would be design of the building to some level that allows them to begin marketing....they will also do market research and search for commercial tenants at that time.

they will at that point, maybe 6 months from now release a full on marketing and sales campaign...build a sales office and show suite....they will then take some time to see how sales go....if they go well, construction drawings will be done for the next 6 months and it will go to tender to be constructed...if the sales flop they will sell the land.

today was about hype....they appear to be masters at it....this project has become more anticipated than any other and they have not spent a dime marketing it yet...its genius....say the right things, new tallest, grocery store etc.....leak out a few tid bits on social media to stir the pot.....this was just the next step in marketing.....they will get to do it all over and get the headlines once again when the have images...its a genius strategy.

[Spocket]

Well , that's the thing ... we've all been hearing this speculation about what they're going to build and we even heard that it was going to be spectacular. That's great but when I look back on it , where did we get any of these numbers from ? X million dollars , 36-42 stories , location , etc. ? I mean , there's literally nothing to talk about in terms of concrete facts and even though I trust what our insiders are gracious enough to hint to us about , it's so scant that I can't believe any of us ever got worked up about this.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by trueviking

exactly....the reason i knew that they were not going to unveil a sales campaign and a rendering is because they don't own the land and don't have an architect....they have done some preliminary musing but it isn't based on any real information.

they will shortly hire a design team and begin real investigation on what can happen on the site.....then they will likely purchase the land and move to the next phase, which would be design of the building to some level that allows them to begin marketing....they will also do market research and search for commercial tenants at that time.

they will at that point, maybe 6 months from now release a full on marketing and sales campaign...build a sales office and show suite....they will then take some time to see how sales go....if they go well, construction drawings will be done for the next 6 months and it will go to tender to be constructed...if the sales flop they will sell the land.

today was about hype....they appear to be masters at it....this project has become more anticipated than any other and they have not spent a dime marketing it yet...its genius....say the right things, new tallest, grocery store etc.....leak out a few tid bits on social media to stir the pot.....this was just the next step in marketing.....they will get to do it all over and get the headlines once again when the have images...its a genius strategy.

indeed indeed

now will the fellow skyscraper geeks take a chill pill

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by lilwayne

ya man i think their going to be revealing a bunch more than that tv honestly man be real with urself they already mentioned all that who we are, what we think of winnipeg on enough media outlets.. like seriously dude Truviking.. u think thier gonna waste thier time setting up a tent and coming here to say hey were fortress development we have an idea for winnipeg.. OH WAIT A MINUTE WE ALREADY MENTIONED THIS TO FREE PRESS, CTV and other media outlets already.. but lets just build a tent hype up this big event to do the same old same old. COME on tru come on man.

truviking a man with ur credibility i never thought u would assume a company would show no details about project theyve been working on for well over a year.. lmaooo... hey were fortress reality we want to build a project here look at our portfolia.. thanks for coming by the way go jets go

LMAO

LMAO indeed. Looks like trueviking was right.

That being said, I was hopeful a render or two would be revealed. Oh well. Hopes this turns out to be something of substance and not a Capital Point-like debacle that occurred (and is still happening by the looks of things) in Regina.

[1ajs]

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by Cyrodill

Sorry to get off topic, but I see a crane working on the new police headquarters in your photo, did you get a chance to see how close they are to completion of this project? Well exterior any way.

Building envelope is all but done. Scaffolding was all removed and lane was reopened. There's the odd blue pane not up but assuming they cracked during installation. Overall building has nice look.

[Biff]

....just noticed a nice, under the radar project but very high profile. They are just completing a glazing project on the Royal Canadian Mint. There were a lot of dis-coloured, weathered and seal broken panes making the Mint look a little sad. Every time i drove by i always wondered how they could let such a iconic Canadian building look so beaten. It now looks shiny and new. This and the major expansion is nearing completion as well.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

Ok, last dumb question..

How can Fortress get through the pre-sales campaign without really revealing what this building will look like beforehand?

This is the last time i am going to comment on this..........

They are no where near a pre-sales campaign. This was an introduction of the company and team to Winnipeg.

Some of you make it out like this is some evil empire coming to Winnipeg to demolish an orphanage and pave a parking lot. The way i look at it is it is another proposal in a long line of new proposals recently. We just endured a drought of almost 30 years where nothing substantial was planned at all.

Yesterday i learned of two more 20+ storey projects that i hadn't previously heard about. Unfortunately not all of these projects can possibly make it. Some will fade away. This one might be one of those, but they are making an effort out of it unlike Winnipeg has ever seen before. I am confident that Fortress can pull it off. It takes time

We forget that on this site we are privy to quite a bit of inside information long before the general public has any idea. We have known about this project for almost 6 months now. We have had time to digest what it could possibly mean and run though countless scenarios. We are all chomping at the bit for a rendering to excite us. The general public basically learned about this project just a couple of weeks ago.

We need to let the process take it's course. Other projects will be out before this one. Lets enjoy the wave of proposals, it's exciting.

[Shinook]

Originally Posted by Biff

This is the last time i am going to comment on this..........

They are no where near a pre-sales campaign. This was an introduction of the company and team to Winnipeg.

Some of you make it out like this is some evil empire coming to Winnipeg to demolish an orphanage and pave a parking lot. The way i look at it is it is another proposal in a long line of new proposals recently. We just endured a drought of almost 30 years where nothing substantial was planned at all.

Yesterday i learned of two more 20+ storey projects that i hadn't previously heard about. Unfortunately not all of these projects can possibly make it. Some will fade away. This one might be one of those, but they are making an effort out of it unlike Winnipeg has ever seen before. I am confident that Fortress can pull it off. It takes time

We forget that on this site we are privy to quite a bit of inside information long before the general public has any idea. We have known about this project for almost 6 months now. We have had time to digest what it could possibly mean and run though countless scenarios. We are all chomping at the bit for a rendering to excite us. The general public basically learned about this project just a couple of weeks ago.

We need to let the process take it's course. Other projects will be out before this one. Lets enjoy the wave of proposals, it's exciting.

There are a lot of negative, distrusting people on this site, unfortunately. People clearly don't know how this process works, including myself. However, I trust those in the know, and am not willing write it off or 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 about things if they don't go my way.

I appreciate the inside info given by you and a few others here, and am a patient person when it comes to these development. I am definately enjoying all these proposals coming our way, and am looking forward to the transformation of our city into something exciting in the near future

[thebisonx]

Whether this Fortress project goes ahead or not, I think we all should be excited that there is finally some significant private interest in our city - and from an outside developer to boot! This is surely a sign of things to come and I am personally looking forward to having our wonderful downtown transformed one building at a time.

And if Fortress does go ahead with this, I'll definitely be curious to see the design and to hear more about how it plans to be a game-changer for the neighbourhood.