Winnipeg | Downtown | True North Square | U/C

[jmt18325]

Can you imagine if something actually gets built on the church property?

[The Jabroni]

Originally Posted by jmt18325

Can you imagine if something actually gets built on the church property?

It would be great if there was development, but it's pretty much what it is now, and will remain as such unless the Archdiocese of Winnipeg decides to move their offices right at St. Mary's Cathedral property.

The cathedral itself won't change though, but it would be nice if they could spruce up the exterior a bit. A little bit of powerwashing might do the trick.

[jmt18325]

Originally Posted by The Jabroni

It would be great if there was development, but it's pretty much what it is now, and will remain as such unless the Archdiocese of Winnipeg decides to move their offices right at St. Mary's Cathedral property.

The initial plans call for construction of a 200-stall underground parkade, a 15-storey residential tower and a 12-storey office tower. The lower floors of the office tower will include some office and storefront space facing Carlton Street and a new banquet hall with a large patio overlooking St. Mary Avenue. There will also be a large atrium facing St. Mary and connecting the two towers.

James Buchok, the archdiocese’s director of communications, said Tuesday the project is still in the early stages and it will likely be two or three years before construction can get underway.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/busine...become-downtown-developer-411705635.html

That's from January.

[jmt18325]

[bomberjet]

It's probably not coincidence that the hotel project will be starting up after the concrete is complete on phase 1. Since they're using the hotel lands for staging.

Really looking forward to seeing this completed in the next few years. Hopefully by then the church project will be moving forward as well.

[esquire]

I wonder where they will stage the phase 2 construction? Presumably they could build one tower and use the site of the second tower as the staging area, but what do they do for the second tower?

Perhaps they might work out a deal with the church to use their yard for staging? It would probably be a win-win as the church could make a few bucks to put towards their construction project.

Man, the thought of the Archdiocese's project getting underway is almost too much to bear... this block will go from being an eyesore to one of Winnipeg's best, most dense blocks in a matter of just a few years.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by esquire

I wonder where they will stage the phase 2 construction? Presumably they could build one tower and use the site of the second tower as the staging area, but what do they do for the second tower?

Perhaps they might work out a deal with the church to use their yard for staging? It would probably be a win-win as the church could make a few bucks to put towards their construction project.

Man, the thought of the Archdiocese's project getting underway is almost too much to bear... this block will go from being an eyesore to one of Winnipeg's best, most dense blocks in a matter of just a few years.

Haha I had this exact conversation about staging yesterday with someone. I think even without the church project, TNS alone gives the area a much needed shot in the arm. and it bridges an important gap between portage and the convention centre. Imagine that, we now have contiguous cityscape all the way from the mts centre to broadway!

edit: upon completion of these projects we will have contiguous cityscape. still, its all very exciting. now if only the lots to the south of st mary would get filled up.

[Urban recluse]

Plus there is the Medical Arts building conversion, so hopefully we see Graham really thrive where demand outpaces supply and we see some sites along Graham redeveloped.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

Haha I had this exact conversation about staging yesterday with someone. I think even without the church project, TNS alone gives the area a much needed shot in the arm. and it bridges an important gap between portage and the convention centre. Imagine that, we now have contiguous cityscape all the way from the mts centre to broadway!

edit: upon completion of these projects we will have contiguous cityscape. still, its all very exciting. now if only the lots to the south of st mary would get filled up.

The nice thing about using the church lot is that if after TNS is complete the church is ready to build, then they just proceed with construction. But if the Archdiocese project is not ready to go, they can use the lease revenue to landscape that space nicely (it's kind of lame right now) and turn it into a much prettier mini-park than it currently is.

If only the WCB would do something with its big ugly parking lot, there would be a pretty impressive stretch of continuous cityscape pretty well from Ellice right on down to Assiniboine... fingers crossed that it happens.

[BigG]

^^You read my mind about the WCB parking lot.

[LilZebra]

...

[trueviking]

I'd put the church project into the Dreamscape folder until further notice.

[trueviking]

the problem is that any development at WCB must provide essentially free parking to provincial employees. Essentially precluding any development. It's disgusting but it's the facts.

[BigG]

Now that construction has reached the 13th floor on tower 1, just curious if builders still skip the physical 13th floor on elevators? What is the typical nowadays?

[jmt18325]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I'd put the church project into the Dreamscape folder until further notice.

Whys that?

[YWG-RO]

Looking at that pic, I wonder if tower 2 will effect the sight lines for the CTV dishes.

[WolselyMan]

Ultimately, if the area continues with it's current momentum, all of those small 1-3 floor stores on graham near the bay will be demolished for higher density developments. I'm certain it would be much, much easier for a developer to acquire one of those properties versus something like the RWB residency that we're all focused on.

[esquire]

^ When I brought up the RWB residence, I was thinking more in terms of if TNSE ever wanted to build one more TNS tower, that would be an ideal site. But for other developers, yes, those random little Graham Ave. commercial buildings would make more sense as possible redevelopment sites.

[DowntownBooster]

Originally Posted by WolselyMan

Ultimately, if the area continues with it's current momentum, all of those small 1-3 floor stores on graham near the bay will be demolished for higher density developments. I'm certain it would be much, much easier for a developer to acquire one of those properties versus something like the RWB residency that we're all focused on.

I'm surprised there's been any talk on this board about the RWB residency. The building only opened in 1995 so I can't see it being torn down to make way for another development. There is still lots of surface parking downtown that can make way for development.

[WolselyMan]

Regarding the RWB residence lot. I still stand by my earlier statement in this thread that it should be utilized as a vegetated green space. I just simply think that a space like that would really "complete" the public space, so to speak. Besides, it would also complement the Hydro building's existing small green space. I fully understand the eye rolling that people do when they hear about reserving space for parks. Every piece of land that you set aside for green space is a piece of land that you could of built a beautiful shiny tower on, but trust me - Those high rises will look that much more shiny if they were surrounded by the occasional greenery. In fact, what I love about graham avenue in the first place is all of those trees and vegetation on the streetscape co-existing with all the large midrise buildings further down. I think it would be wise to capitalize on this strength of graham and further reinforce it with pocket parks along it's length. You just have to look at the intersection of graham with Donald by the holy trinity church to see what I'm talking about. It's absolutely beautiful there. Wouldn't it be great if every street corner downtown looked that? But just with even taller buildings?

Anyhow, my personal kind of "idealization" of the perfect city is high rises mixed in with a sea of greenspace. I just simply can't enough of those sorts of urban environments that I'd like to see city planners experiment just a little bit with that model.

Hope I didn't sound like a communist saying that.