Winnipeg Construction IX

[trueviking]

I cant imagine it being developed by the church...where would they get the money to develop something that costs tens of millions of dollars?

generally in these types of projects, there is a developer who shares in any profits with the church....they are iffy propositions to say the least, so I will be very interested to see the details of this.

[BAKGUY]

RE: ST MARY'S CHURCH Proposal..
What BIFF said is more or less what I heard.
Behind the church as we know it, a podium for/// Some variation of a museum for artifacts and archives, some offices and other church related spaces needed with additional space to be leased .... office space and a tower for some type of residential.
Both towers were somewhere about 12 - 16 floors above the podium and the rents collected would help the church with expenses incurred as well as some revenue ongoing into the future for them as well.
This being in such close proximity to TNS, would beef that area up and as others have stated, considering the area is so desolate, it would become a so called cluster.. hot spot downtown and example of what can and needs to continue with many other so called dead zones downtown.

[headhorse]

from October 7:

Originally Posted by headhorse

apparently there is a plan under way to develop 2 towers on a podium on the parking lot next to St. Mary's Cathedral, with the podium containing parish offices, a museum and cultural centre, and commercial space. one tower of office space and one tower of residential. I believe GPP/ft3 are the current architects.

http://www.gpparchitecture.ca/portfolio/st-marys-cathedral/

[1ajs]

not the first time they have proposed a tower there....

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I cant imagine it being developed by the church...where would they get the money to develop something that costs tens of millions of dollars?

The Catholic church on a global scale definitely has the funds to invest in this if there is a case to be made for it. They could then essentially hold the mortgage for the property and take payments back over time.

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by headhorse

from October 7:



http://www.gpparchitecture.ca/portfolio/st-marys-cathedral/

Pulled fromt hat link:

The east tower houses a number of residential units above, while the west tower is dedicated to providing rentable office space. The complex also includes 2 stories of underground parking.

Surprising it's east and west towers. I thought it would be north and south towers, with a lawn area between the existing church and the new build along St. Mary. Having east and west towers almost seems like the new build will be right against the old church.

[Urban recluse]

Good point for those of us not familiar with the workings of religion LOL. How about one taller tower?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Pulled fromt hat link:

The east tower houses a number of residential units above, while the west tower is dedicated to providing rentable office space. The complex also includes 2 stories of underground parking.

Surprising it's east and west towers. I thought it would be north and south towers, with a lawn area between the existing church and the new build along St. Mary. Having east and west towers almost seems like the new build will be right against the old church.

I walked by the site today, no way will it be E-W. That would mean two pencil-thin towers jammed into the site. N-S makes way more sense.

I presume this means that the existing little 2 storey Cathedral office building will get demolished? I wonder whether that would mean the same for the gym/multi purpose room on Hargrave (the big room which directly abuts the TNS property). I guess we'll find out some details soon enough...

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by esquire

I walked by the site today, no way will it be E-W.

If the plan includes a demo of the existing hall/offices/etc behind the church the E-W tower alignment would easily make sense and be relatively similar to one block south with the Holiday Towers and 155 Carlton.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by CoryB

If the plan includes a demo of the existing hall/offices/etc behind the church the E-W tower alignment would easily make sense and be relatively similar to one block south with the Holiday Towers and 155 Carlton.

Except on 2/3 the site width. Obviously I could be wrong, but I have a hard time imagining how the towers could be placed side by side on a E-W alignment without looking very awkward. I guess the towers could just have very small floor plates, but to me it looks like N-S would make much more sense.

[CoryB]

From the Google satellite view in looks like on the south end of the church site the west side is vacant and the east side is an existing building. If you demo the existing building and put the eastern tower on the Hargrave side, almost on the street edge, and the west building on the Carlton side you have a layout fairly close to how Holiday Towers and 155 Carlton are structured one block south.

[esquire]

^ Good point, something like that could work.

[buzzg]

Crystal Properties has launched a complaint about the dog park to be built next door and now the city is reviewing it.

Insane. Asinine. In any other city developers would be drooling to have a free amenity like that right beside their new building. It's a luxury. If noise is the issue — your building is downtown, it's loud, most people aren't at the dog park really late at night anyway, and it's not gonna be any louder than the existing park where people already take their dogs. Dog park does not mean illegal dog fighting ring with constant, incessant barking.

It's crazy how behind the times many wpg building owners are... so hard to find decent places that are pet friendly, especially downtown. I know a few people that recently moved here or moved back from bigger cities (Calgary, Vancouver, Minneapolis specifically) and couldn't believe how difficult it was to find somewhere to live that they could bring their dogs.

[Authentic_City]

Meh, I don't see a dog park as an important downtown amenity. But hey, I don't own a dog. Personally, I really don't know why the city is in the business of supplying open spaces for animals to run free. The dog park in my area definitely detracts from neighbouring properties. It's poorly marked, unfenced and some irresponsible dog owners let their dogs run throughout the whole park -- not just in the designated off leash area. I don't blame Crystall for objecting. I wouldn't choose to live next to a dog park.

[1ajs]

some diging i found this old proposal for the church site from around 8 yrs ago?

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by CoryB

The Catholic church on a global scale definitely has the funds to invest in this if there is a case to be made for it. They could then essentially hold the mortgage for the property and take payments back over time.

You really think the Pope is building condos and office towers in winnipeg?

There's something like 11 churches in winnipeg trying to turn their land into private development to stay afloat. It's never supported by the global denomination

It's surprising they are not going after affordable housing grants. There's no subsidy for condos or offices. We all know how easy it is to find office tenants for class A in downtown Winnipeg. Tough to understand how church offices and a museum could pay enough rent for new high rise construction.

Good luck to them. I don't really get it but it would be great to see so hopefully they have a magic formula that nobody else has figured out. They hired an architect so that's good. Maybe it's Longboat developing it.

[1ajs]

it is a church and they prolly bet someone to move their offices there thats part of the church

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by buzzg

It's crazy how behind the times many wpg building owners are... so hard to find decent places that are pet friendly, especially downtown. I know a few people that recently moved here or moved back from bigger cities (Calgary, Vancouver, Minneapolis specifically) and couldn't believe how difficult it was to find somewhere to live that they could bring their dogs.

Plenty of places to live, they are called houses.

Maybe try to consider others living in the same block having to listen to other people's pointless creatures barking their heads off all day.

[bomberjet]

Bowman said the dog park aint goin anywhere. Seems like such a silly thing. I'll assume they do not allow dogs in the apartments.

[Riverman]

Seven of the closest high rise apartments don't allow dogs.