Winnipeg Construction VIII - Page 385

Urban recluse · #**7681** Posted **Nov 30, 2015, 7:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

Agreed, although I guess the restaurant could make it more viable one day.

What happened to Albert St. is really quite a disgrace... what should be the best block in the Exchange is marred by two slumlords who refuse to do anything with their properties (St. Charles Hotel, Royal Albert Arms, the old warehouse with the former Vault Hair), a building with totally vacant CRUs (in the parkade), and a building that burned down and has been replaced by surface parking.

What we need is the Exchange Biz, Winnipeg Chamber, and Downtown Biz, to host a gathering of all the property owners and solicit their thoughts on what it will take to invest in their buildings. Do you need to witness 1000 more people living in the area to invest in your buildings? Does the city need to attract 20,000 people per year? Include business leaders, too. Once and for all, I would like to know what it will take to see surface lots replaced, buildings renovated, new stores and restaurants open, etc. We all speculate, but I for one would like to hear from all of these sources why we are still battling to see vibrant streetscapes.

Riverman · #**7682** Posted **Nov 30, 2015, 7:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Once and for all, I would like to know what it will take to see surface lots replaced, buildings renovated, new stores and restaurants open, etc.

More people in Winnipeg with money.

steveosnyder · #**7683** Posted **Nov 30, 2015, 7:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

^ It's ugly, but the density it brings is good. I'd love it if more buildings like that (just maybe a bit better looking) filled the gaps on the city's arterial roads.

Agree, not the best design, but it's a boost. I especially like the 0 set-back. It'll join a barber shop and a strip (that looks much worse than this building) along that strip to create a continuous street wall, which I don't think's a bad thing.

Urban recluse · #**7684** Posted **Nov 30, 2015, 7:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverman

More people in Winnipeg with money.

So the city's median income needs to increase? If so, by how much? To achieve this, the city needs to attract higher paying-jobs, and that of course leads into a new provincial government. The City of Winnipeg is relatively competitive, the province is not.

borkborkbork · #**7685** Posted **Nov 30, 2015, 8:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Has anyone here been to London, ON? I spent just one night there, but tried to make the most of it visiting as many stores downtown as I could. The city had never been on my radar prior, other than the odd thought; I had talked with the occasional person who was from there. It does not have high end retail downtown, but quite a diverse mixture of retail that makes it rather vibrant. My immediate thoughts turned to Main Street in Winnipeg, and how unique it could be in terms of a similar mixture of retail, cafes, etc.
Princess Street from Logan to Notre Dame, too, could become so much more than it currently is. Its downtown mall is akin to Portage Place: it suffered from high retail vacancies, but has been developed into a mixture of business concerns, and it is doing very well now.

Yep. Richmond (the main downtown retail drag) is lower rent (head shops, etc.) as you head south away from the university, but it's still generally occupied CRUs, with a reasonable level of pedestrian traffic.

The downtown mall (they actually had two, amazingly -- never learned their lesson from the first) now contains their central library and office space, with a little retail mostly geared to the offices. Further north on Richmond, there's a bunch of fairly nice shops and restaurants, clustered around the theatre, heading north toward Victoria Park, etc.

There's lots of nice residential between the river and Richmond, especially as you head north, and there's a substantial amount of recent mid-rise condo development around the downtown area.

They also have a redeveloped indoor, year-round farmers market that's directly across the street from their OHL team's arena. Lots of bars and restaurants have opened up around it.

They have their issues with sprawl, no question. But in terms of a livable city? I'd say in the late 80s/early 90s they were in the same boat as Winnipeg in terms of the downtown (lots of seedy bars and vacant retail). And now, I'd pick London's downtown over Winnipeg's in a heartbeat despite it being in a city with half our population.

Urban recluse · #**7686** Posted **Nov 30, 2015, 8:34 PM**

My sentiments. Winnipeg can learn a lot from London's success. It has a lot in common with Winnipeg.

1ajs · #**7687** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 1:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverman

More people in Winnipeg with money.

wrong theres allot of stagnant wealth here idle

we need proper vission to get the cycle flowing again to show vision to those that want to grow that they can and inspire it to begin
theres stuff happening but theres no vision to it so it just keeping going round inside these boys club mentalities that hurt us.

trueviking · #**7688** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 3:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

^ It's ugly, but the density it brings is good. I'd love it if more buildings like that (just maybe a bit better looking) filled the gaps on the city's arterial roads.

Designed by an engineer. Beauty.

DavefromSt.Vital · #**7689** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 5:25 AM**

Actually, as my family and I were walking along Albert Street to the Fox and Fiddle in a vain attempt to get into the Tiger-Cats party I commented that this SHOULD be one of the nicest, most interesting streets in Winnipeg. My son was a little amazed at the recent history of the block between Notre Dame and McDermot and the people involved.

Unrelated, we watched the Grey Cup/Santa Claus Parade across from Centrepoint. A good change from what was there before. My wife really liked how it looked. Of course after the parade she immediately wanted to go to Dollarama which was quite busy...

rrskylar · #**7690** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 5:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

My sentiments. Winnipeg can learn a lot from London's success. It has a lot in common with Winnipeg.

So now we're comparing Winnipeg to London, I guess Windsor, Halifax and Victoria as well now, looks like Quebec City and Hamilton are out of our league now, it wasn't so long ago that Winnipeg was compared to Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. Sixteen years of speNDP stagnation has worked out just swell!

Riverman · #**7691** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 1:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ajs

wrong theres allot of stagnant wealth here idle

Wealth is never idle, it is always busy creating more wealth. If wealth could easily be created by speculative development it Winnipeg it would be. But it isn't, for obvious reasons.

wags_in_the_peg · #**7692** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 1:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

Intresting project going to community committee this week on St. Anne's Road... A decent example of gentle density...

http://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/DMIS/ViewDoc....0&InitUrl=/DMIS/Documents/rc/2015/a14858

8 apt units and 2 storefront on a tiny lot, good density. I personally wouldn't want a tiny balcony off bedroom, I guess it's a way to get a breeze in room, but not sit out there. no visitor parking for those stores and there is parking restrictions during the day.

Urban recluse · #**7693** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 3:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ajs

wrong theres allot of stagnant wealth here idle

we need proper vission to get the cycle flowing again to show vision to those that want to grow that they can and inspire it to begin
theres stuff happening but theres no vision to it so it just keeping going round inside these boys club mentalities that hurt us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverman

Wealth is never idle, it is always busy creating more wealth. If wealth could easily be created by speculative development it Winnipeg it would be. But it isn't, for obvious reasons.

If there is, it is concealed well and not known to the fine retailers expanding in Canadian cities. HBC is focusing on Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa in terms of expansion of its Sak's brand, while investing in dramatic renovations to its Hudson's Bay stores. Nordstrom, too, has set its sights on these cities. HBC has committed to a renewed presence in downtown Winnipeg if it could sell the building and lease space, but no developer has faith in Winnipeg to redevelop the building. Holt Renfrew has completely abandoned Winnipeg, and is investing in its other stores.

esquire · #**7694** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 3:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

If there is, it is concealed well and not known to the fine retailers expanding in Canadian cities. HBC is focusing on Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa in terms of expansion of its Sak's brand, while investing in dramatic renovations to its Hudson's Bay stores. Nordstrom, too, has set its sights on these cities. HBC has committed to a renewed presence in downtown Winnipeg if it could sell the building and lease space, but no developer has faith in Winnipeg to redevelop the building. Holt Renfrew has completely abandoned Winnipeg, and is investing in its other stores.

I'd say that this is to Winnipeg's credit... I can't say it bothers me if we generally don't buy into conspicuous consumption to the same degree that you see in other cities.

No Holt's = no problem

Urban recluse · #**7695** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 3:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrskylar

So now we're comparing Winnipeg to London, I guess Windsor, Halifax and Victoria as well now, looks like Quebec City and Hamilton are out of our league now, it wasn't so long ago that Winnipeg was compared to Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. Sixteen years of speNDP stagnation has worked out just swell!

Unfortunately this is true. Despite propaganda, Winnipeg is not thriving. People do not leave land of opportunity, they flock to it. A low unemployment rate does not translate into much of a benchmark when the employment opportunities are low-paying, and an exodus of people has created job opportunities. Apartment vacancies are up dramatically, as is the inventory on the mls. Additionally, there is a glut of condo units on the market. Meanwhile, despite the woes in Alberta, in Edmonton, a 40 storey condo tower sells 50% of its units in two weeks, and the developer then adds a few more floors because of demand. In Calgary, a 167-unit condo tower with no parking sells 90% of its units in five days. In Edmonton, a new downtown arena results in a $2.5 billion district; in Winnipeg...well anyway. In terms of Halifax, I wish downtown Winnipeg was as vibrant as downtown Halifax, with so many pubs, shops, and renovated heritage buildings. For a city that is not growing so much, in a province bleeding people, its downtown appears to the contrary.

bomberjet · #**7696** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 4:00 PM**

Because Winnipeg is not Edmonton or Calgary. Or Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, even Quebec City. Ottawa is the nation's capital, can't really compare apples to apples.

Urban recluse · #**7697** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 4:07 PM**

So Winnipeg must accept a fate of inertia?

bomberjet · #**7698** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 5:00 PM**

No. But there's a reason 40 storey towers sell out in two weeks elsewhere. There is demand. If the demand was here in Winnipeg, we'd be getting the same.

I want Winnipeg to be just as awesome as everyone else. When reality sinks in, we need baby steps. That's my motto for the day, baby steps. Winnipeg's population is slowly increasing. People say when a city reaches the 800k-900k mark, some type of critical mass is born. Lets see what happens in Winnipeg over the next 10 years with that.

DowntownBooster · #**7699** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 5:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

So Winnipeg must accept a fate of inertia?

I would take the Winnipeg downtown of 2015 any day over that of 1996. There has been a lot of change over the last 10 years alone. You must remember, the footprint of our downtown is a lot bigger than that of many other cities so it's going to take longer for it to fill in. One other issue that Winnipeg faces that most other major urban centres in Canada don't face is the crushing poverty that permeates the area in and around our downtown. It poses a challenge to any developer to try to entice people to locate to an area that many people want to avoid for that reason alone. Some people may believe that it's not politically correct to talk about those issues but it is a reality.

esquire · #**7700** Posted **Dec 1, 2015, 5:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DowntownBooster

I would take the Winnipeg downtown of 2015 any day over that of 1996. There has been a lot of change over the last 10 years alone. You must remember, the footprint of our downtown is a lot bigger than that of many other cities so it's going to take longer for it to fill in. One other issue that Winnipeg faces that most other major urban centres in Canada don't face is the crushing poverty that permeates the area in and around our downtown. It poses a challenge to any developer to try to entice people to locate to an area that many people want to avoid for that reason alone. Some people may believe that it's not politically correct to talk about those issues but it is a reality.

Downtown of 1996 was not that bad... you could actually do all your Christmas shopping downtown back then, which is something you'd be hard pressed to do now.