Winnipeg Construction VIII

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

re: glazing, what about Glasshouse? Manitoba Hydro's tower?

Portage Place was designed to accommodate a tower, so what would make the process complicated?

Given the fact that this Richardson facility is R&D specific, I think it seems likely that it would need its own custom-built facility instead of generic office space. And the PP pads were designed for 15-20 storey towers IIRC, so unless there was already a tower going up for Richardson to piggyback on, I doubt Peterson would exhaust the potential of the pad on a single two storey (or whatever) R&D facility.

In other words, why on earth would you pay some other company handsomely to custom build a building on top of another building for you when you already have all the land you will ever need and in a more convenient location to boot?

I'm not a handicapper but Portage Place would seem to be an extreme longshot when it comes to siting for Richardson.

[Urban recluse]

After decades of no movement, one must never assume anything.

[CoryB]

Might Richardson be considering the vacant NRC buildings? They are setup for labs, not offices, are in the downtown area and could likely be had for a heavy discount as they are difficult to repurpose for things other than research labs.

[esquire]

^ Federal government war on science is over, so maybe the feds will have some purpose for those buildings again? (Assuming that they still own them, that is)

[Cyro]

Originally Posted by trueviking

new building. Not big, but sexy.

^^ - ^.. New Build.

[Urban recluse]

Perhaps Viking may indulge us with a date the company will release the information?

[Cyro]

^ Nah, that's cool. If TV can tell us he will, if not it's his perogative to do so or not.. It'll break soon enough.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

re: glazing, what about Glasshouse? Manitoba Hydro's tower?

Portage Place was designed to accommodate a tower, so what would make the process complicated?

FNP's refusal to part with the parkade. Story from 2011:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/portage-place-tower-remains-up-in-the-air-132297423.html

[Labroco]

[QUOTE=Urban recluse;7221564]Perhaps Viking may indulge us with a date the company will release the information?[/QUOTE

It's going up on one of the Richardson lots behind their bldg at portage and main. They own the land and parkades already.

That's a no brainer ...

It will be a great bldg and addition to the area...

[Urban recluse]

Sounds good to me.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Federal government war on science is over,

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Riverman

I know, I thought it was ridiculous too.

[Only The Lonely..]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Federal government war on science is over, so maybe the feds will have some purpose for those buildings again? (Assuming that they still own them, that is)

Originally Posted by Riverman

It's true though. The Harper Era was a rough time for the local scientific community.

I work in robotics and have witnessed it first hand with the disappearance of several grants that our r&d department used to rely on.

The closure of the NRC labs, the closure of the experimental lakes lab, and the moth balling of expansion plans for the Federal lab on Arlington are just a few examples that come to mind.

[steveosnyder]

Originally Posted by cheswick

FNP's refusal to part with the parkade. Story from 2011:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/portage-place-tower-remains-up-in-the-air-132297423.html

This article is quite amusing... FNP's mission is "to act as a catalyst, encouraging activities for people in the downtown area through public and private partnerships, revitalization strategies; and to work to ensure financial self-sufficiency." But it seems their reluctance to sell the parking garage under Portage Place puts their mission statement at odds -- at least, if it's true that Peterson is looking to build a tower over PP mall.

[trueviking]

[QUOTE=Labroco;7221685]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Perhaps Viking may indulge us with a date the company will release the information?[/QUOTE

It's going up on one of the Richardson lots behind their bldg at portage and main. They own the land and parkades already.

That's a no brainer ...

It will be a great bldg and addition to the area...

I hope so...has a lot of potential to be a bit of a landmark.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

This article is quite amusing... FNP's mission is "to act as a catalyst, encouraging activities for people in the downtown area through public and private partnerships, revitalization strategies; and to work to ensure financial self-sufficiency." But it seems their reluctance to sell the parking garage under Portage Place puts their mission statement at odds -- at least, if it's true that Peterson is looking to build a tower over PP mall.

Wait a minute, who has seriously approached PIG about building a tower at Portage Place that FNP has refused to cooperate on?

For all we know, PIG could just be trying to put some pressure on FNP to get them to sell what must be a lucrative parkade operation.

[Riverman]

FNP needs that parkade to keep the Forks afloat. They will never let it go.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Riverman

FNP needs that parkade to keep the Forks afloat. They will never let it go.

Maybe not. But if someone seriously wanted to get something done on top of the parking pad, I can't imagine that FNP wouldn't cooperate in making a deal. There are ways to arrange it that would still allow FNP to retain ownership of the parkade.

[blueandgoldguy]

What does a parkade underneath Portage Place have to do with the Forks? That's several blocks away.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

What does a parkade underneath Portage Place have to do with the Forks? That's several blocks away.

The article cheswick posted explains it all.