Winnipeg Construction IX

[lilwayne]

i hope both projects move forward at some point

but unfortunately I think neither will get the necessary funding this year most likely next year though...

that puts expansions to Manitoba museum,, wag, and diversity gardens on hold for now..

on the plus side mcphillips st station redevelopment appears to be moving along at a pretty fast clip

if sky city proceeds 300 main get underway this year ill be more than satisfied... im sure we will hear about more projects to follow there are lots of surface lots to fill downtown and I think in the next 7 years we will get at least 4 more residential towers dt

4 more towers in the 20 - 30 story range would create the type of critical mass needed to attract further businesses dt... I promise you in 10 years dt Winnipeg will be the place to be... itll be the hub for entertainment, dining and cultural activity.. not to mention majority of people coming dt to work and learn as our dt businesses makes up majority of our workforce and u of w and red river college have strong student populations

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Anybody seen or heard of any issues with the new pedestrian signal at Main and Assiniboine?

Story by CTV notes the main issue is vehicles not stopping at the traffic signal. So enforce that 🞵🞵🞵🞵, what the hell! They're making it out to be some kind of issue with the way the City installed the crosswalk.

I actually think it is really poorly designed heading south.

a) the lights are set back quite far from where you're supposed to stop, but the median goes the full length. So escpecially right now with no lines, it's no easy to tell where to stop.

b) there's only TWO traffic signals... on a four lane, high-speed road. Hell, Corydon in little Italy has three at some places.

c) going off point b, the only two signals are mounted directly in front of the big directional/road signage. Not only is it just ridiculous because you can't read the signs, but they actually kind of get lost in them.

I think the city needs to rework it a bit. It's not immediately apparent that it's a somewhat major intersection, especially since you're about to get onto a quasi-freeway/interchange, and the signals are inadequate. I actually thought this to myself on my way home without seeing this today. You don't really notice the signals there until it changes to red.

[goldenboi]

Originally Posted by lilwayne

if sky city proceeds 300 main get underway this year ill be more than satisfied... im sure we will hear about more projects to follow there are lots of surface lots to fill downtown and I think in the next 7 years we will get at least 4 more residential towers dt

4 more towers in the 20 - 30 story range would create the type of critical mass needed to attract further businesses dt... I promise you in 10 years dt Winnipeg will be the place to be... itll be the hub for entertainment, dining and cultural activity.. not to mention majority of people coming dt to work and learn as our dt businesses makes up majority of our workforce and u of w and red river college have strong student populations

In my opinion, downtowns need more than just "critical mass" and 20-30 story residential towers in order to thrive. I've been to cities that have jungles of towers but no life in the street. And the part of our downtown with the least height also happens to be our most vibrant part (exchange district).

I think a larger amount of quality small-scale projects (around 5-10 stories) filling in some lots, as well as better transit/pedestrian/biking infrastructure and a grocery store could have a FAR greater impact than a few massive towers. And it would also cost a lot less money.

I would much rather have a downtown that is vibrant and bustling from the street level than have a nice skyline. I'm not sure if that sort of attitude is welcomed on "skyscraperpage" LOL

[trueviking]

^amen.

[buzzg]

^Agreed goldenboi. Hence why The Forks is maxing out at 6 stories. Would love to see some of the Broadway lots get filled in with 5-10 story apartments with street level CRUs.

[cheswick]

Speaking of low to mid rise downtown, how's that residential building on market coming along? Haven't seen any updates on it.

[Urban recluse]

Yes Goldenboi, that is the refrain. However, there are examples of streets with towers (set back) atop perfectly designed podiums up to 6 stories that are very vibrant. Both can exist. It has more to do with location than height.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by cheswick

Speaking of low to mid rise downtown, how's that residential building on market coming along? Haven't seen any updates on it.

Im pretty sure that it's nearing completion. That would be 98 market.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Yes Goldenboi, that is the refrain. However, there are examples of streets with towers (set back) atop perfectly designed podiums up to 6 stories that are very vibrant. Both can exist. It has more to do with location than height.

Agreed, but I think for the Winnipeg market, if SkyCity were to go ahead, developers may be even more cautious to build downtown for a bit until some of these newer buildings fill up. Where I'd rather honestly see 4 x 10 stories go up on empty lots right now, tbh.

I think 300 Main is going to be a great test/case study for downtown Winnipeg. Most new residential downtown has been condos, and taken a while to fill up. But if these apartments get snapped up quickly, which I feel they might - we might see a lot more apartments go up here. Antares has been filling up very quickly as they do the floor-by-floor conversion (I think they only have 1 or 2 floors left).

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by cheswick

Speaking of low to mid rise downtown, how's that residential building on market coming along? Haven't seen any updates on it.

its all interior work now till they start doing the finish of the skin prolly getting close to drywall and paint work inside

with the curvy wall on it on its back side its kinda neat and the new project thats suppost to happem beside it on james should create a neat hidden urban park space of some sort in there to bad the back wall of excelsor is such a bland black wall

[Urban recluse]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Agreed, but I think for the Winnipeg market, if SkyCity were to go ahead, developers may be even more cautious to build downtown for a bit until some of these newer buildings fill up. Where I'd rather honestly see 4 x 10 stories go up on empty lots right now, tbh.

I think 300 Main is going to be a great test/case study for downtown Winnipeg. Most new residential downtown has been condos, and taken a while to fill up. But if these apartments get snapped up quickly, which I feel they might - we might see a lot more apartments go up here. Antares has been filling up very quickly as they do the floor-by-floor conversion (I think they only have 1 or 2 floors left).

You bet! In Winnipeg's case, I would much rather see increased density in the form of 6-10 story buildings lining the downtown streets. 300 Main is acceptable in terms of a new taller tower for the downtown at this point. If Sky does not proceed, a 15-20 story tower would be great there.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Any inside info on the new Richardson facility that is supposed to be built downtown?

Exchange district scale. Should be pretty nice....and a good parking lot filler.

[Urban recluse]

Do you know when it will start?

[vicdevelopments]

Originally Posted by EndoftheBeginning

Nice view of downtown on that web page - you don't often see that angle (from any height).


Edge Gallery, 611 Main Street. Photograph by Jonathan Ventura. http://cargocollective.com/knnth/Star-Blanket-Project

That's an awesome photo

[lilwayne]

man that Manitoba clinic has a huge presence at that intersection especially at night when its lit up

[Urban recluse]

More buildings to be designated, including the Nutty Club building on Pioneer; I know the owner must be freaking out LOL.

http://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/dmis/ViewDoc.asp?DocId=16081&SectionId=&InitUrl=

[goldenboi]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Yes Goldenboi, that is the refrain. However, there are examples of streets with towers (set back) atop perfectly designed podiums up to 6 stories that are very vibrant. Both can exist. It has more to do with location than height.

Yeah I totally agree, that is the dream. But Winnipeg isn't Toronto or Vancouver so we must build on a smaller scale simply because of economic limitations. As buzzg said, if Skycity goes up it may oversaturate the market.

This doesn't necessarily mean we can't have a great city or a boring skyline. Height isn't the only factor in an aesthetically pleasing skyline in my opinion. I think it is much more about relative scale. Take the four buildings around portage and main for example. If we put them in the middle of Hong Kong it would be completely underwhelming. But when you're driving over the Disraeli bridge and you see them all bunched up together, not dwarfed by some 300m tower, it's magical!

Glasshouse and the Alt Hotel are a great example of what I think fits Winnipeg. They add to the skyline not in height but in relative scale to the rest of the city, they sit atop podiums that interact with the street, and they are also more realistic in terms of supply and demand. I would much prefer it if we got two buildings half the height of skycity, but if they also filled up the lot between Garry and Fort. Although I won't complain if we get skycity.

[Urban recluse]

Agreed. There are too many sites downtown which need to be developed.

[lilwayne]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Agreed. There are too many sites downtown which need to be developed.

Manitoba clinic was a great choice for its location has a huge presence in that area its like night and day.. shows u much of an impact 300 main and skycity would have... could complete change the core.. not to mention true north square...

[roccerfeller]

I know it's "skyscraperpage" and we all deep down like seeing high rises that can notably contribute to skylines...

...but smaller 6-10 storey buildings would be much better for downtown Winnipeg if we want to see such 100m+ buildings become the norm for development rather than the lone proposal that comes once or twice a decade...

Not only would a relatively steady stream of 6-10 story buildings be more feasible financially, more realistic, and contribute more quicker, it would densify downtown so much so that it could make these taller towers more feasible out of necessity

If all these empty lots are developed on with smaller scale buildings, densify the proportionally large downtown, suddenly the lots that aren't developed downtown become more scarce, more valuable, and it becomes more feasible to build taller buildings simply due to space constraints.

At least, in an ideal sense, it could work like that.