Winnipeg | Downtown | Portage Place | Redevelopment | U/C

[Zmonkey]

How does the healthcare component being owned, but leased back to the province work?

[thebasketballgeek]

Damn they even got a 20k sq ft grocery store in the plans.

What grocer y’all hoping for? I think Co-op or Sobeys would be my 2 choices but hell I wouldn’t even mind something from Loblaws.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

Damn they even got a 20k sq ft grocery store in the plans.

What grocer y’all hoping for? I think Co-op or Sobeys would be my 2 choices but hell I wouldn’t even mind something from Loblaws.

I would think co-op to keep it Western Canada based

[audie]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

Damn they even got a 20k sq ft grocery store in the plans.

What grocer y’all hoping for? I think Co-op or Sobeys would be my 2 choices but hell I wouldn’t even mind something from Loblaws.

I wouldn't expect anything full sized. By comparison, the osborne village safeway is about 60,000 sqft according to some rough google maps measurement.

I'm skeptical about the funding model for healthcare portion. Seems like we the taxpayer are putting in a lot of money to still lease the space.

Hope it works out at least, this is still probably the most realistic shot we've had for an actual improvement to that location. As much as I want to cynically bemoan True North taking over downtown, they have delivered the goods on previous projects

[wags_in_the_peg]

the Pan Am Concussion program is based currently out of the Iceplex (Hockey For All Centre) so it's already in a "private" owned space.

Do you think that every healthcare facility in the Province is owned byt he province? wrong, many gov't services are located in private owned buildlngs

[dmacc]

YES!!! I love this. Will be good to see this project grow. True North has shown an ability to get projects moving quickly. Hopefully we get a live cam like with other sites, otherwise Grump will need to put in extra work to get us pictures.

I'm curious how the $500-$600 mil is divided. TNSE bringing in $300 mil. Is the other $200-$300 mil coming from the lease payments, likely over a few decades. If that is the case, I imagine this will be built in phases. First the Health Centre, and then once TN starts brining in revenue then they will start on the west portion and private residence.

[audie]

I don't have a problem government with leasing private space, I understand that happens all the time, and it would be foolish not to. I'm less excited about the prospect when we're actively putting public money into the creation that same private space. Money is fungible, so I don't really care that TN is putting up the cash for the healthcare building while there is investment by the 3 levels of Gov into the housing portion of the same development. Ultimately it's a nitpick from me, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic about it

[trueviking]

This is what I saw a few days ago. A medical centre is the perfect anchor. Think how many people that will drive to the downtown every day. It will bring good jobs and spin off complimentary professional uses like other medical clinics and functions and supportive uses for visitors like restaurants and shopping. Love it.

[pspeid]

What I like the best about this plan (aside from beautifying that part of Portage Ave.) is that it recognizes that downtown is a community, as much as Transcona or Garden City are communities, not just some area you linger during the day or pass through on your way from one side of town to the other. We want to see people living downtown and this provides services for those people. I really hope this moves forward.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by trueviking

This is what I saw a few days ago. A medical centre is the perfect anchor. Think how many people that will drive to the downtown every day. It will bring good jobs and spin off complimentary professional uses like other medical clinics and functions and supportive uses for visitors like restaurants and shopping. Love it.

This is similar to Pittsburgh how they became a medical hub excellent development.

[trueviking]

^ is that right? I'll have to look into that.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

Chipman & Richardson & Government a hitting a Home Run with this one!

Couldn't agree more. With heavy hitters like this supporting the project I don't think there are enough nay-sayers in the city to stop it.

Now what i'd love t see is Southern Manitoba Chiefs come out in support of this project. It can't help but be good for their conversion of The Bay and the residential component that building will have.

[esquire]

This stuff has to go somewhere so the province might as well kill two birds with one stone by putting it downtown. But man, what a humbling moment for Portage Avenue. From the grand commercial boulevard of Western Canada, to this.

I remember 20 years ago people on this board would bemoan the fate of Selkirk Avenue going from a busy retail street to one where the biggest activity is basically social services. What we didn't know then was that Portage would end up following the same path.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by trueviking

^ is that right? I'll have to look into that.

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/n...on-verge-of-being-life-sciences-hub.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh#Economy

The largest employer in the city is the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, with 48,000 employees. All hospitals, outpatient clinics, and doctor's office positions combine for 116,000 jobs, approximately 10% of the jobs in the region. An analyst recently observed of the city's medical sector: "That's both more jobs and a higher share of the region's total employment than the steel industry represented in the 1970s."[129]

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by esquire

This stuff has to go somewhere so the province might as well kill two birds with one stone by putting it downtown. But man, what a humbling moment for Portage Avenue. From the grand commercial boulevard of Western Canada, to this.

I remember 20 years ago people on this board would bemoan the fate of Selkirk Avenue going from a busy retail street to one where the biggest activity is basically social services. What we didn't know then was that Portage would end up following the same path.

the downtown has to evolve to what it is and who lives there its impossible to have it become a retail hub again so its best it serves the people who need these services while at the same time helping Winnipeg build a niche it is good at in being a regional health centre hub.

[drew]

Originally Posted by esquire

This stuff has to go somewhere so the province might as well kill two birds with one stone by putting it downtown. But man, what a humbling moment for Portage Avenue. From the grand commercial boulevard of Western Canada, to this.

I remember 20 years ago people on this board would bemoan the fate of Selkirk Avenue going from a busy retail street to one where the biggest activity is basically social services. What we didn't know then was that Portage would end up following the same path.

It's back to the basics for downtown. There should be no surprise as the people gradually disappear - retail follows.

Get more people into downtown and the surrounding areas, and eventually retail options should improve. Not to what it was 50 years ago obviously.

[GreyGarden]

This all looks positive. I really hope this actually happens.

As to Esquire’s comments, I agree with Thurmas, the downtown has to evolve to serve the population. It has to become a nice place to live and be again. This project and the Bay redevelopment, if they go ahead, will help do that. We could one day see retail return to downtown, but it needs to be a nicer place and have more people.

Regarding the grocer, I am not going to get my hopes up until they have a tenant. Perhaps that will be addressed at the press conference.

[Wpg_Guy]

[esquire]

Originally Posted by thurmas

the downtown has to evolve to what it is and who lives there its impossible to have it become a retail hub again so its best it serves the people who need these services while at the same time helping Winnipeg build a niche it is good at in being a regional health centre hub.

Yeah, at least it's something. It's better than boarding up Portage Place. And it will bring some good jobs to the area, so there's that.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by esquire

This stuff has to go somewhere so the province might as well kill two birds with one stone by putting it downtown. But man, what a humbling moment for Portage Avenue. From the grand commercial boulevard of Western Canada, to this.

I remember 20 years ago people on this board would bemoan the fate of Selkirk Avenue going from a busy retail street to one where the biggest activity is basically social services. What we didn't know then was that Portage would end up following the same path.

oh man.