Downtown Winnipeg Bay store what to do with it?

[scryer]

Originally Posted by tree

I think that looks incredible. I understand concern for preserving the original profile of our old The Bay building but if the final result was something like that I'd be happy - I also don't think ours would need any extension as its height is already perfectly suited.

I would prefer they keep the color the same though (with restoration of some kind) - not sure if the Victoria one has been changed from the original or not or if its just my bad displays - but the Winnipeg one has more brown-ish tone?

I would love to keep the original building as it is (but upkept and maybe getting the windows updated?) but I also agree with Drew about maybe opening it up in the centre like they did in Victoria? And I think that a rooftop terrace/garden would be okay as well as long as it would be designed to handle all 4 seasons of Winnipeg (because green washing in the prairies isn't the same as green washing in the west coast...).

Originally Posted by esquire

In some respects the ideal would be some type of mixed use project... The Bay on floors 1 & 2, some type of office and institutional use above that on 3-6...

Originally Posted by WildCake

Regarding conversion to office/commercial, I don't think there are many businesses that value this type of historical look (read: small hip/new company) that couldn't make due with a smaller space somewhere in the exchange. Skip was rumoured at one point but I'm guessing they need more modern office infrastructure (wiring, HVAC etc...) that would be prohibitively expensive to set up at the Bay.

I'm not that familiar with the office market in Winnipeg but like WildCake said, I think that in order for the Bay building to host offices that it would have to make significant upgrades in order to appeal to those businesses. However in the same breath, with COVID-19, I also have doubts that offices and schools are the way to go because of the move to working/learning on digital platforms. Plus the offices of the Bay building would have to compete with the amenities of modern business parks across the city so, to me, it seems like an uphill battle to secure office space interest from other places.

Regardless the Bay building will need to upgrade and install more elevators if it is converted to residential, so there is the fact that it would remain a big project for any developer to begin with .