Winnipeg | Exchange District | Developments & Discussions

[Wigglez]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Such a shame what albert st. has become. Soooooo muuuuch potential in there.

Who owns the massive lifeless parkade on Albert? Do they keep the ground level units closed out of spite or stupidity?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Such a shame what albert st. has become. Soooooo muuuuch potential in there.

Circa 2000 Albert was probably the most interesting street in the Exchange... now it has become the worst, certainly in relation to its potential.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by horrorbro123

Rocky Mountain Soap at Polo Park is Temporary Closed For Renovations

What does this have to do with the Exchange?

Originally Posted by Wigglez

Who owns the massive lifeless parkade on Albert? Do they keep the ground level units closed out of spite or stupidity?

Harvard does. There's no reason for them to be closed, they're empty right now except for on space that's used by the charity that gives dresses to grads who can't afford it... I think just for storage though?

It drives me nuts, I wanted to open a cocktail bar there, the spaces are listed as for lease on their website but no one would answer me there.

[Riverman]

The Royal Albert is going up for auction soon.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/royal-albert-arms-sale-1.4373319

[Wigglez]

Originally Posted by buzzg

What does this have to do with the Exchange?



Harvard does. There's no reason for them to be closed, they're empty right now except for on space that's used by the charity that gives dresses to grads who can't afford it... I think just for storage though?

It drives me nuts, I wanted to open a cocktail bar there, the spaces are listed as for lease on their website but no one would answer me there.

Delightful...

When Harvard came weren't they supposed to be the saviours of P&M? Now they're just yet another company sitting on assets in downtown Winnipeg and letting them mostly rot...

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by Wigglez

Delightful...

When Harvard came weren't they supposed to be the saviours of P&M? Now they're just yet another company sitting on assets in downtown Winnipeg and letting them mostly rot...

I think if there were businesses willing to open a store on an abandoned street, the spaces would be utilized.

[Urban recluse]

Perhaps it would be a good start to, I don't know, market the space?

[esquire]

I don't think the parkade CRUs were ever used on a regular basis, were they? Except for the gym which was pretty well hidden from the street.

On paper that stretch has the potential to be an interesting part of the Exchange District, but for whatever reason the successive owners of the parkade haven't wanted to do anything with that space, even when Albert St was doing relatively well. There must be some reason why.

[Urban recluse]

Unfortunately this is the refrain in Winnipeg: oh the potential.

A redeveloped St. Charles, Royal albert and that parkade would transform this stretch into what we all want to see...

[esquire]

^ It's not even some pie in the sky kind of potential either... literally just using the CRU spaces that already exist in the parkade, and having owners of the St. Charles/Royal Albert who were prepared to do anything except just let their buildings quietly rot would totally change the vibe of that stretch.

[Urban recluse]

It really is sad what this area has become, and the blame is on the owners of all these buildings discussed. It seems the Royal Albert may be the first to see redevelopment...

I wonder if Harvard’s plans for the empty lot are tied into the parkade.

[esquire]

What is the status of the neighbouring Gregg Building at 52 Albert Street (where Vault Hair used to be)? I think Jorgenson owned it along with the Royal Albert. It looks empty so far as I can tell.

[Urban recluse]

I believe it was sold this summer.

[Wolf13]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Yeah, I think we're probably in the middle of its biggest transition downturn in terms of nighttime activity.

Why? Because before it was getting gentrified, so to speak, there were so many underground raves, illegal parties at studios, nightclubs, and other things of the sort that attracted young people, and not as many more "normal" established businesses and (affluent) residents.

While it's sad to see a lot of that disappear, great (legal) businesses are popping up all over the place and people are moving in, pushing that scene out. A couple years and we'll see nightlife pick up again that better suits the new demographic there.

Well, we can agree that kids these days suck.

Originally Posted by oftheMoon

Great to see a place like 'Across the Board' packed every night with a chill crowd and so visible to the street. It's not a night club scene but probably way better for the area. Same with places like 'Albert Street Cocktails' , 'Forth', 'Little Brown Jug' and 'PEG' - busy places but a much different vibe than in the old days. Notwithstanding the busy restaurants that are doing well like 'Cibos', 'Cordova', 'Hermanos' etc. Always folks around in these places, but just a little less wandering as what used to happen. The area is very much alive, just in a different way.

"Chill" is fine (and I like all the establishments you listed above), but it also irks me...

There is such an faux indifference that seems to be built into everyone's own "cool" persona in the "chill" scene these days... I say faux because this crowd is socially conscious, generally very progressive with SJW leanings... so by definition the indifference is false.

So why spend so much effort trying to be so chill an indifferent? It's hilariously lame. Some people are fascinating, and others are boring, but there seems to be less of a sense of adventure now than there was before.

I'm not, nor ever was a nightclub guy, so I'm not talking about that. But once the hour approaches 11 it seems that people retreat to their cliques rather than keep the exchange going.

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Unfortunately this is the refrain in Winnipeg: oh the potential.

A redeveloped St. Charles, Royal albert and that parkade would transform this stretch into what we all want to see...

If we're honest with ourselves, a demolition and new re-development of above properties would do similar wonders... I'm just ready for the saga to end so we can move forward.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by Wolf13

If we're honest with ourselves, a demolition and new re-development of above properties would do similar wonders... I'm just ready for the saga to end so we can move forward.

May be true, but it's not the heritage protection holding these properties back right now – it's the owners. If Zaifman really wanted to develop and make money off the St. Charles and empty lot next door, he would have by now. It's been 10 years. Frankly at if someone had a great development (that would ACTUALLY happen) for the St. Charles property that involved demolition, I'd likely be fine with that. The Albert however I personally think has much more heritage value as it's still mostly in original form. And since it was actually used as a modern business more recently, needs way less work to make redevelopment feasible.

[tree]

Originally Posted by Wolf13

I'm not, nor ever was a nightclub guy, so I'm not talking about that. But once the hour approaches 11 it seems that people retreat to their cliques rather than keep the exchange going.

I think I was trying to get at this in my response to pacman but apparently I left it out - it still has some dead time because their isn't enough people quite yet at night;everynight; to build a 'critical mass' of activity. With all the new developments etc we're close to a point where that won't matter.

I don't fully agree with what you're summary of the situation (though do with some of it) but essentially what I'm saying is I think its getting closer every few months to being more 'permanently' active - any 'shutdown at 11' from different ways of spending the night out will be offset by some who are getting started at 11, some who aren't leaving until 11:30, etc, etc

[buzzg]

The bylaw being talked about at City Hall to end patio noise downtown at 11 is horrible. Will hurt a lot of businesses, and potential new ones. If they want to lower the decibel or something, fine, but I'm tired of people moving to The Exchange and complaining about noise at night... don't move downtown then.

It was like the people on Waterfront complaining about a nightclub that was there before their condo was. Don't buy a condo next to a club in a downtown area then.

[cllew]

Is that just for the exchange to eliminate outdoor events past 11pm? If so that may have an impact on the the Tavern United patio and there twice a week party's.

[pacman]

Originally Posted by buzzg

May be true, but it's not the heritage protection holding these properties back right now – it's the owners. If Zaifman really wanted to develop and make money off the St. Charles and empty lot next door, he would have by now. It's been 10 years. Frankly at if someone had a great development (that would ACTUALLY happen) for the St. Charles property that involved demolition, I'd likely be fine with that. The Albert however I personally think has much more heritage value as it's still mostly in original form. And since it was actually used as a modern business more recently, needs way less work to make redevelopment feasible.

Don't wanna defend everyone's favourite punching bag here, but things definitely ramped up in the last few weeks regarding St Charles redevelopment, design moving fast and should be in for permits in the next couple of months. That boutique hotel plan from like 10 years ago was essentially dead for a few years but recently got revived with wheels really turning quickly. Nothing definite, but more likely to go ahead within a year than not. Btw, before anyone gets hopes up it has nothing to do with that recent Venu(e) render that came out a couple of months ago.

[buzzg]

If true that'd probably be the best news I've heard in my ~5 years on this forum! Do you know if they're basing it off of those beautiful renders from years ago or starting completely from scratch? Is it still planned as a hotel?