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

[esquire]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

because this one has tenants committed to it already

In fairness, the Manitoba Clinic also had tenants committed to it, but they have been leaving in droves.

[dmacc]

Originally Posted by esquire

In fairness, the Manitoba Clinic also had tenants committed to it, but they have been leaving in droves.

My allergist used to be out of the Manitoba Clinic and the reason for many other tenants leaving is because of the untenable financial position they found themselves in.

The way doctors typically earn income is through providing a service to patients and billing the Government for the services rendered. This also comes with it a large administrative burden on doctors.

Manitoba Clinic offered a service where they would manage that administrative burden and pay out what was owed to the doctors minus the leasing fees. When the clinic found itself in a negative financial situation it began withholding money it owed the doctors to cover its debt obligations.

[Atrial78]

Perhaps the best option is for SharedHealth to purchase the Manitoba Clinic for pennies on the dollar and include it as part of the expansion of HSC. I imagine its cheaper than a new building and it already has imaging, endoscopy suites, and a lab inside of it.

[thurmas]

Apologies in advance for my ignorance but what is the issue with manitoba clinic and why they don't have enough tenants ?

[drew]

I think there is some room for growth in medical services downtown. The Boyd Building and the Medical Arts buildings were all recent-ishly full of various doctor's offices - and weren't replaced.

Personally, I prefer these services downtown, or centralized (if at all possible) since I live an work in the area.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by esquire

That said, I wonder if Pan Am, by virtue of the fact that it is fairly specialized, is a more cohesive unit that can be managed more effectively than those others which had/have a mishmash of all kinds of different medical practitioners?

Considering Pan Am has effectively already spawned off two different clinics doing similar practices in Winnipeg I think there is less cohesion than it might appear externally.

Now if Shared Health is planning to relocate hip and knee replacements from Concordia to the new Pan Am Clinic and the new clinic has the reportedly needed replacement for MRI, etc that could use up a fair bit of the space.

Some of the space could then be post-op in-patient care for hip and knee replacements and out patient physio. But that still leaves a lot of space.

Looping back it is publicly said that addictions treatment is part of the base which makes me wonder if some of the tower could be housing in-patient addictions treatment.

My thinking is the size of that tower is some form of "residential" as in people staying there 24 hours or more at a time. It doesn't make sense as medical offices that you drop into for a few minutes every once in a while.

[wags_in_the_peg]

maybe PanAm concussion will no longer exist at Hockey for All Centre and only here?

[Jammon]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Apologies in advance for my ignorance but what is the issue with manitoba clinic and why they don't have enough tenants ?

My understanding from some of my physician friends was that Manitoba Clinic operated under a shared services model whereby physicians would share larger services and all pay equally to reduce the cost associated with private office spaces, etc. And when it came into being, almost every space was accounted for in the building. However, over the last few years, rent increased and the clinic operations were using billed services to cover for shortcomings in budget and essentially physicians were having to bear those costs. Physician practice slowly started leaving Manitoba Clinic and rent kept going up to cover the unused office space. Now, as I understand, they are somewhere near 50% occupancy. It could even be less now. I know of multiple physicians that have left.

[CoryB]

From when the new Manitoba Clinic opens the space where the doctor I see appeared to have space for at least 16 assistants. Most doctors I know run with one assistant and did so before the clinic opened. I think of those 16 spaces at most 5 were filled. I am not sure what the misread was there, did they overbuild? Uptake was less? Something else?

[esquire]

Weren't the project finances such that costs were higher than expected and revenue less, forcing the rent to go up to cover the losses? At which point some physicians started to buckle at the overhead burden and started leaving for less expensive places?

My youngest goes to see a pediatrician who was at the MB Clinic... that doctor recently moved into a new purpose built pediatric clinic on Keewatin in a repurposed bingo hall.

It's not ideal but I was never comfortable with the idea that the government should bail out the clinic and make the doctors whole again. They rolled the dice on an investment and it didn't quite work out. I'm not sure why the public should be on the hook for that.

[Wpg_Guy]

Building a Community: Transforming Portage Place into a Vibrant and Connected Downtown Winnipeg Campus

May 17, 2023

A49, in partnership with True North Real Estate Development and PCL Construction, is thrilled to deliver the Portage Place Revitalization project, marking a monumental transformation of the original Portage Place shopping centre in downtown Winnipeg. This groundbreaking endeavor liberates the center from its outdated 1980s retail structure and ushers in a revitalized, inclusive, and vibrant mixed-use campus that will reshape the downtown landscape. Building on the success of projects like True North Square and the Wawanesa Headquarters, this collaboration represents the latest milestone in A49's ongoing partnership with industry leaders.

Undergoing an extensive modification, the redeveloped Portage Place will begin a new chapter as a diverse campus broadly programmed into 4 zones to include a comprehensive Healthcare Centre, a mixture of affordable and family housing, anchored by neighborhood services and public and urban greenspaces. With the view to a sustainable and adaptive re-use of much of the existing structure, the building will undergo a significant metamorphosis from an internalized mall structure to a more open, accessible, and outward-facing development with a mandate to serve and connect its community and allow the downtown communities to thrive once again.

As architects, we approach every project with the goal of creating spaces that are both beautiful and functional, and the Portage Place Revitalization project is no exception. Our design strategy is focused on creating a campus that would foster a sense of community and connection, with a mix of programmatic elements that would appeal to a broad range of users. We were also committed to sustainability, incorporating adaptive reuse and green building strategies into the design to minimize the project's environmental impact. The end result is a space that we believe will not only meet the needs of the community today, but will also help to shape the future of downtown Winnipeg for generations to come.
-Scott Stirton, President, Architecture49

Redevelopment plans are centred on the principles of neighborhood connectivity, accessibility, and community-mindedness. The existing building becomes a campus of connected buildings and supportive programmatic functions.

The new buildings will largely be defined by the re-opening and revisioning of the currently enclosed Edmonton court into an open and accessible pedestrian street, a new pedestrian plaza, and active green outdoor space. This de-densification of the existing homogenous superblock will redistribute the building mass to two anchor towers, creating a variety of densities and spaces that are scaled with sensitivity to their new uses and promoting inclusive livability, with more human-scaled and unique places interlinked by people, light, and landscape. The project densifies the west end of the site through the addition of a new housing tower with a blend of multi-family and affordable housing while the east end of the site is redeveloped vertically into a comprehensive Healthcare Centre for Excellence.

Central to the redevelopment is the adaptive reuse of the existing shopping centre core converted into a unique urban living room of indoor and outdoor spaces with more than 15 diverse programs covering a range of uses including public health and fitness facilities, local food eateries, community use spaces, artist co-op, existing entertainment venue, outdoor stage, and a mix of private and public rooftop gardens that allow people to orient themselves in the downtown.

The design of the Portage Place redevelopment is seen as a confluence of memories, perspectives, histories, and stories, that will collectively re-shape the urban barrier that was Portage Place into something new – an inclusive place that cultivates the resilience of communities by providing places for security, support, and renewal. In this way, a primary goal is to build community as much as it is to build a healthy and sustainable campus of mixed-use buildings.
-Michael Conway, Design Lead, Architecture49

From an urbanistic perspective, the project is based on the principle of creating a pedestrian-friendly and safe campus that will improve the social and economic vitality of downtown Winnipeg. The Portage Place Revitalization project represents a pivotal moment in the transformation of Portage Place, propelling it into a new era as a dynamic and inclusive mixed-use campus that will redefine the downtown landscape of Winnipeg.

architecture49.com

[pspeid]

Wow. It looks like some of the best architects and builders have been tasked with this project. It looks like it's going to happen and it's not going to take 20 years or end with half the project "delayed indefinitely". Where was this article first published anyway?

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by pspeid

Wow. It looks like some of the best architects and builders have been tasked with this project. It looks like it's going to happen and it's not going to take 20 years or end with half the project "delayed indefinitely". Where was this article first published anyway?

The link to the source wasn't properly showing up, it's been fixed.

[WinCitySparky]

Seems too good to be true, but I’m cautiously optimistic

[optimusREIM]

Those "balconies" on the medical tower seem like a bit of a nod to the old winnipeg clinic.



Kinda neat, hope that the real thing looks good. The architecture in the renderings is kinda meh... oh well.

[Malcsta]

Given the amount of failures and delays that have happened with construction downtown, PCL are pretty dependable, correct?

[CoryB]

Considering the heavy amount of Shared Health involvement in the Portage Place plan I think it is at best "pending" the results of the election this October. Lest we forget the near shovel ready Cancer Care plan that was scraped when the provincial government last changed.

[WinCitySparky]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

Those "balconies" on the medical tower seem like a bit of a nod to the old winnipeg clinic.

I totally thought that too!

[Highwayman]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

Seems too good to be true, but I’m cautiously optimistic

When has True North ever not lived up to their promises? This will be finished probably before those Sutton towers. True North is in this to make money as they have done over and over in this city. The longer it takes to build the less profit. Especially when you have tenants already for one tower. And government ones no less. I'd be happy if they stsrted moving all the retail to City place and True North Square. More central for the residential aspect of downtown. Portage place will never be a mall where people want to go . Keep the stores on the main lvl with street presence and rest can be whatever. Hopefully one-day we get that waterpark downtown. Not at the forks. And one more like West Edmonton mall. To make it a tourist destination. But things like that will be awhile still.

Either way with word they will be starting this in the fall. I'm excited. Just wish Sutton would start aswell.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Considering the heavy amount of Shared Health involvement in the Portage Place plan I think it is at best "pending" the results of the election this October. Lest we forget the near shovel ready Cancer Care plan that was scraped when the provincial government last changed.

Seems hard to imagine the NDP scrapping a big health care project immediately upon getting elected, no?