Winnipeg Construction X

[WildCake]

Originally Posted by trueviking

U of M moved out of downtown in the 1960’s, now they’re trying to take downtown with them.

They're taking the whole city over. They already got the stadium from Polo Park, now downtown. Next thing you know the Elm Park Bridge with BDI will be the long awaited river crossing to St Vital and the provincial legislature will be moved to Smart Park.

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I'm sure these have been shown before but I came across these images of the U of M Southwood master plan....who is going to tell them that the buildings are nost likely going to be 6 storey wood frame....looks like downtown Boston....wasnt the winning proposal a bunch of towers in a big field?

There must be a few billion dollars worth of buildings and infrastructure in that picture. Dare to dream...

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

There must be a few billion dollars worth of buildings and infrastructure in that picture. Dare to dream...

And in 2150 when this is fully built out, Winnipeg will have a population of 2 million, but still no real rapid transit or a single completed freeway. The south perimeter freeway project will just be wrapping up the intermediate phase and a 24th Kenaston widening study will be underway to study the impact of the road works on migratory crickets…

[WildCake]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

There must be a few billion dollars worth of buildings and infrastructure in that picture. Dare to dream...

I'm fairly optimistic about this project. This is a side hustle for the U of M, they aren't like most developers where it's their main source of revenue where if things don't sell, value engineering really kicks in. They also sat on the old golfcourse for many years planning what this community would look.

Maybe it won't look as high class as the renderings but I don't see them budging too much on density.

[esquire]

It's nice to see the U of M has at least learned its lesson from the god-awful SmartPark and has done a complete 180 on that horrendous approach to planning.

The good news is that SmartPark is so comically low-density that when the need arises one day, it won't take all that much to demolish the buildings that are there and start over.

[Winnipegger]

The UofM Southwood renderings look like what, 5,000 new high-density dwelling units? Just need the University-area to absorb about 2-years worth of city-wide multi-family dwelling unit construction and they'd be good to go lol. But in reality, that area will take like 50 years to fill out if they want it to look anything like the renderings and not just a few low-rise budget build apartment blocks in a sea of parking lots.

[Biff]

The first phase - Phase 1A is supposed to be 2000-3000 units and cost $1-1.5B.

Apparently all buildings are required to be concrete.

[wags_in_the_peg]

gated community full of bungalows, community pool, pickleball court and pathways on the river and I'd move there! (sorry density lovers)

[esquire]

Wow. I think they have the right idea in terms of approach but it is so hard to imagine that much being built. This is way bigger than the largest of the 1960s/70s multi-tower apartment projects built in the heyday of the Baby Boomer era (think Courts of St. James, Lakeview Square, etc.).

With this many people on campus and in the new development, I think there will be some opportunities not just for apartments and office space but for some retail and entertainment. Retail shops and also cinemas, activity places (laser tag, Rec Room type arcades, bowling, etc.), all kinds of different restaurants. Dare to dream but this would be an amazing place for a secondary arena.

This is possibly the most ambitious development in Winnipeg since the days of the North Portage Development Corporation in the 1980s. It would be easy to dismiss it as another Dreamscape fantasy if a legitimate entity like the U of M wasn't behind it. But even then, are there any developments on this scale that Canadian universities have been involved in? I'm hard pressed to think of any, even in cities where universities are sitting on a ton of extremely valuable land like Vancouver and Toronto.

[Winnipegger]

Originally Posted by esquire

But even then, are there any developments on this scale that Canadian universities have been involved in? I'm hard pressed to think of any, even in cities where universities are sitting on a ton of extremely valuable land like Vancouver and Toronto.

UBC has significant medium-density development adjacent to campus like Westbrook village. Not sure if it was led directly by the University, but its definately got that "isolated from the rest of the City, made for university studends" vibe to it.

Unlike Winnipeg, lots of other major Canadian cities also have urban neighborhoods with student-driven amenities close to their main campus (e.g., Garneau at UofAlberta, Westdale at McMaster, basically all of downtown TO at UofToronto, downtown Halifax for St. Mary's and Dalhousie). UofM is detached from Pembina, and the bordering Fort Richmond is pretty quiet. If you live directly on campus, you are pretty far from any amenities not on campus, so a dense urban development near campus will help make campus a lot more attractive from an experience perspective.

The only thing I question is the UofM's ability to quickly fill that much housing. Most people looking to live on or within walking distance of campus are international students or students coming from outside Winnipeg. The bulk of the University's students are Winnipeggers living and communing from their parents house. Housing needs are currently being filled largely by single family homes with many bedrooms in Fort Richmond and large apartment buildings along Pembina. The recent towers along Pembina will absorb a lot of the future demand for student-centric living in that area I think, so how strong is the demand for even more?

[esquire]

^ Kind of a related note, but I am often around the stretch of Pembina from Chevrier to Bishop Grandin and it is interesting to see how increasingly urban the character is despite the overwhelmingly car-centric nature of that strip's design.

There are always lots of pedestrians on that stretch of Pembina, often younger looking people who look like students. You see school buses picking up and disgorging large numbers of children who live in those buildings. You see lots of cyclists although the SWBRT AT route has siphoned off a lot of that traffic from Pembina. Transit usage looks fairly high. There are a lot of ethnic shops and restaurants. It wasn't quite like that when I was a U of M student 25 years ago, or at least I don't remember it being that way.

I assume the growth in the number of international students has changed the character of the area somewhat... back in the 90s the U of M had way more of a commuter campus vibe... in the case of most of my friends in our undergraduate years, we mostly lived at home with our parents, or we were from rural Manitoba in which case we lived in the res. Not many undergrads (at least in my circles) had their own off campus apartments. That appears to have changed.

This U of M plan, if it ever gets realized as envisioned, will take an already bustling area and move it to the next level.

[CoryB]

I think the U of M plan could potentially work with a couple strategies here.

1. Make Southlands a place for young adults in the 20-30 range, not just studenets but from first year undergrads through to recent grads living on their own starting their careers.

2. The Q lot area of campus needs to go as a surface lot to help connect Southlands to the campus and needs similar residential development.

3. The Southlands area near IG Field needs to be a ground level SHED area for the stadium, campus and the residential area.

4. The IG Field station would need to convert to being used outside of event times.

5. Design of the Southlands development would need to include a weather protected walk way network like the tunnel system on the U of M campus and it could be at ground level with roads perhaps going under where needed.

[Biff]

This is not a plan for UofM students. This is a general housing development for all.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Biff

Apparently all buildings are required to be concrete.

That’ll change. It’ll be six storey wood frame.

It’ll be interesting to see what they do about parking. None shown in those renderings of Oslo. Will it end up looking like Bridgwater Towne Centre or Fort Rouge Yards (whatever it’s called)

[lbnevs]

The plan is on Page 21 of this public board document

https://umanitoba.ca/governance/sites/governance/files/2023-01/2023_01_31_BOARD_OPEN_AGENDA.pdf

[ColdRain&Snow]

Hey, does anyone know what's going in at the site of the old St. Regis Hotel?

[WinCitySparky]

Originally Posted by ColdRain&Snow

Hey, does anyone know what's going in at the site of the old St. Regis Hotel?

A 6-storey parkade and allegedly a tower on top later

[trueviking]

^ eleven storey parkade. No tower.

[WinCitySparky]

Originally Posted by trueviking

^ eleven storey parkade. No tower.

What a colossal fucking joke

[WildCake]

Originally Posted by trueviking

^ eleven storey parkade. No tower.

Gotta love the contrast on this page of the thread.

- U of M: has RFP for the first phase of a multi billion dollar well-designed urban community with less car-centric design. We're comparing Winnipeg to other major urban centres.

-downtown: were getting rid of a parking lot and an old hotel! Replacing it with a gargantuan 11 storey parkade. How bout that, biggest one in the whole province folks.