Winnipeg Construction IX

[michelleb]

Sheesh, I was so confused by the endless back-and-forth, I didn't realize the city actually caved!

[buzzg]

The intro is hilarious:

Building on the momentum of CentreVenture’s successful district-specific
planning and development strategies in the past decade – including
the Exchange Waterfront and the SHED

All that's come out of the SHED plan other than TIF grants for TNS is 3 blocks of fancy lighting, 1 funnelator, and a SHED logo made of bricks outside cityplace.

[esquire]

^ Let us not forget Centrepoint

[esquire]

I walked by the 24/7 In Touch office building renovation project on Graham near Kennedy today... looks like it's still very much in the construction phase. It feels like it is taking forever... any word on when it will be finished?

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by buzzg

The intro is hilarious:



All that's come out of the SHED plan other than TIF grants for TNS is 3 blocks of fancy lighting, 1 funnelator, and a SHED logo made of bricks outside cityplace.

Newport is getting major reinvestment, including complete replacement of
the curtain wall, including spandrels, vision glass and exterior mullions.



And the podium refurbishment yet to come.

1. Development of a significant two-level retail podium, complete with a large format LED screen, anchoring the Portage and Hargrave intersection, to welcome a destination restaurant.

[CoryB]

That "large format LED screen" is going to get "value engineered" right off the reno by the City of Winnipeg. The one thing that may save it is the plan does not have it facing the flow of traffic.

Also its funny how they show if playing a Jets game yet they will never have rights for that and we all know it will basically turn into nothing more than a digital billboard.

[Wolf13]

That's pretty, but I'd venture it's atleast $10M

[Wolf13]

Originally Posted by CoryB

That "large format LED screen" is going to get "value engineered" right off the reno by the City of Winnipeg. The one thing that may save it is the plan does not have it facing the flow of traffic.

Also its funny how they show if playing a Jets game yet they will never have rights for that and we all know it will basically turn into nothing more than a digital billboard.

Digital billboards are good. We need more visual engagement.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by Wolf13

Digital billboards are good. We need more visual engagement.

I agree, they can create a better atmosphere than a blank wall if they are used well. Plus, think of how many generations have been trained to stare blankly at screens by now? Built in audience!

[armorand93]

Originally Posted by Wolf13

Digital billboards are good. We need more visual engagement.

Just needs some more neons and Blade Runner-type ads. It might keep Downtown Portage Avenue from looking any more Soviet...

[LilZebra]

On my FREE bus travels this afternoon on the 44 Grey London, I spotted some two-storey homes going up in the Concordia area.

What neighbourhood is this?

They were HUGE mansion sized homes too. I'll bet those 2,000 sq. ft. type we were talking about in the de-amalgamation thred (cough cough).

[headhorse]

proposal for Pembina Hotel (not confirmed) site:


from h5architecture.ca

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by headhorse

proposal for Pembina Hotel (not confirmed) site:


from h5architecture.ca

That’s been posted a couple years ago it’s been floating around for a long time now. They are beautiful buildings I’d love to see more architecturally stimulating high rises like these pop up. If only that one on Stradbrook could look half this good.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by LilZebra

On my FREE bus travels this afternoon on the 44 Grey London, I spotted some two-storey homes going up in the Concordia area.

What neighbourhood is this?

They were HUGE mansion sized homes too. I'll bet those 2,000 sq. ft. type we were talking about in the de-amalgamation thred (cough cough).

If you were on the 44 going down Peguis you saw Crocus Meadows on the west and on the east side just being developed is Devonshire East

[esquire]

Felt like we saw that Pemby proposal quite a while ago... I wonder where that's going? There are no signs of anything happening, no marketing, etc. It sure looks good, though. And a great location for something like that.

The 330 Portage upgrade looks decent. CoryB's right, the jumbotron is just a glorified billboard. It's funny how the City cracks down so hard on traditional signs and billboards but is still so permissive with jumbotrons (apart from forcing the Boyd Building's owners to remove their illegal screen). So given the reason that it will generate revenue, I would fully expect that part to happen... at least it will brighten things up a bit.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Let us not forget Centrepoint

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

Newport is getting major reinvestment, including complete replacement of
the curtain wall, including spandrels, vision glass and exterior mullions.

These are good projects of course but not really tied to CV's "successful district-specific planning and development strategies" per se. They happened due to TIF and the developers.

CV's own big planning components have never really come to fruition. I do think CV is good and generally does a good, important job, but I just found that line funny – specifically in reference to The SHED (which, btw, can we stop calling it that now? It will never be a thing).

[Labroco]

Originally Posted by esquire

Felt like we saw that Pemby proposal quite a while ago... I wonder where that's going? There are no signs of anything happening, no marketing, etc. It sure looks good, though. And a great location for something like that.

The 330 Portage upgrade looks decent. CoryB's right, the jumbotron is just a glorified billboard. It's funny how the City cracks down so hard on traditional signs and billboards but is still so permissive with jumbotrons (apart from forcing the Boyd Building's owners to remove their illegal screen). So given the reason that it will generate revenue, I would fully expect that part to happen... at least it will brighten things up a bit.

Well the city lost BIG yesterday at committee in their attempt to have a digital sign removed from BEHIND the curtain wall at 1000 Notre Dame. All the wasted energy and time to remove a sign that has been there for 10 years. They are used successfully all over the world why the resistance here? Vibrant cities have vibrant signs.

[buzzg]

I wonder if the second CanWest tower ever went through, with all the Times Sqaure-like screens in front, if the city would have changed it's tune – as the screens would be prominent at P&M. But the city is even hesitant to allow new standard billboards on buildings.

Digital screens and ads in downtowns are signs of economic strength, investment, and interest in the city – it's a sign of "big city" life. We should be thrilled if Rolex, Lacoste, whoever wanted to show off their ads to all of downtown Winnipeg.

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by cllew

If you were on the 44 going down Peguis you saw Crocus Meadows on the west and on the east side just being developed is Devonshire East

I remember seeing a billboard with the words Devonshire, and hearing the bus stop annoncement of something Meadows, so yes, that was it.

Devonshire was the big townhouses, as I recall.

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by CoryB

That "large format LED screen" is going to get "value engineered" right off the reno by the City of Winnipeg. The one thing that may save it is the plan does not have it facing the flow of traffic.

Hope so, as there already is a large one across the street at the Arena.

Also its funny how they show if playing a Jets game yet they will never have rights for that and we all know it will basically turn into nothing more than a digital billboard.

Yeah, advertising for things we don't want (or need).