Winnipeg | Osborne Village & Fort Rouge

[ColdRain&Snow]

Originally Posted by FactaNV

I would donate to help with some of the stated goals. A couple marked entries would be super cool.

I don't think we'd really need money, just people who are comfortable talking with City Councillors. Although I guess there is the possibility of grass-roots funding raising some of the money for beautification projects. Would probably need to work with the BIZ on that. One thing at a time though.

[ColdRain&Snow]

Cladding starting to be installed at 425 Wardlaw:

[ColdRain&Snow]

Still no progress at 265 Osborne St, although I will say O-Station Cafe was pretty busy around 12:30 pm.

[ColdRain&Snow]

Foundation wall has started at 350 River Ave:

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by ColdRain&Snow

Still no progress at 265 Osborne St, although I will say O-Station Cafe was pretty busy around 12:30 pm.

I'm surprised by this site. Sure, maybe the previous design was over-ambitious but you'd think this would be a no-brainer for a 7-8 story.

[ColdRain&Snow]

Originally Posted by FactaNV

I'm surprised by this site. Sure, maybe the previous design was over-ambitious but you'd think this would be a no-brainer for a 7-8 story.

Anyone here know the background on that site? Why did the white building on Confusion corner take so long to build and why is it still mostly empty? Is the empty pit behind it (pictured) the same developer?

[WinCitySparky]

Same developer originally. Was a 2 building project. All the parking was designed to be in the second building. Built the first building and no one would rent space because no parking. Developer went bust, no second building. Some other developer took over and redesigned the second building. Dunno if it’s even gone through PPD yet. Purgatory.

[ColdRain&Snow]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

Same developer originally. Was a 2 building project. All the parking was designed to be in the second building. Built the first building and no one would rent space because no parking. Developer went bust, no second building. Some other developer took over and redesigned the second building. Dunno if it’s even gone through PPD yet. Purgatory.

Interesting thanks

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

Same developer originally. Was a 2 building project. All the parking was designed to be in the second building. Built the first building and no one would rent space because no parking. Developer went bust, no second building. Some other developer took over and redesigned the second building. Dunno if it’s even gone through PPD yet. Purgatory.

I think the redesign went through in 2020. Item 1 on the hearings here:
https://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/dmis/Vie...onId=&InitUrl=

"The proposed development is a mixed use building with 75 dwelling units. It contains:
- commercial uses on the ground floor (restaurant)
- a 134-stall parking garage and residential uses on floors 2-5
- an office and gym on floors 6 and 7 and roof deck on floor 7
- residential dwelling units on floors 8-15"

Considering there's been no action since this time and the economics have become considerably less favourable since... no idea whether this one has any pulse at all

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

I think the redesign went through in 2020. Item 1 on the hearings here:
https://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/dmis/Vie...onId=&InitUrl=



Considering there's been no action since this time and the economics have become considerably less favourable since... no idea whether this one has any pulse at all

The fact that almost a third of the building needs to be parking is fucking insane. No wonder shit doesn't get built. Half the cost of the building sits empty most of the day being unproductive.

[WinCitySparky]

To be fair the 3 levels of parking is responsible for both buildings so that’s not completely unreasonable in this case. It’s more the foolhardy decision to make the first phase completely economically dependent on the second phase. Bananas. Can’t believe they got loans with a plan like that.

[Atrial78]

I noticed The Zu is now on rent cafe. Some of the apartments are tiny ($1150 for ~450 sqft). There are large apartments available, but higher cost of course (up to 3k). I suppose this gives people more options, but still quite pricey for the amount of space in my opinion.

[xubiqtss]

Originally Posted by Atrial78

I noticed The Zu is now on rent cafe. Some of the apartments are tiny ($1150 for ~450 sqft). There are large apartments available, but higher cost of course (up to 3k). I suppose this gives people more options, but still quite pricey for the amount of space in my opinion.

A development mindset where number of doors trumps every other design concern, combined with a building code that makes any 2+ bedroom prohibitively inefficient.

Although I still think the most offensive thing about the "Zü" is the corny marketing.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Originally Posted by Atrial78

I noticed The Zu is now on rent cafe. Some of the apartments are tiny ($1150 for ~450 sqft). There are large apartments available, but higher cost of course (up to 3k). I suppose this gives people more options, but still quite pricey for the amount of space in my opinion.

$1150 for 450 sq ft. That's ridiculous. Definitely not for me.

[WinCitySparky]

Hard to imagine but that’s pretty much the standard now

[ColdRain&Snow]

Floors plans are here:
https://www.thezu.ca/floorplans

I'm seeing 547 sq ft 1-bedroom apartments for $1100/month. That seems pretty reasonable for a brand new building. I pay $955/month for a 507 sq ft 1-bedroom in an old 50's building on Scott Street. The suites that are more expensive have balconies, which makes sense.

2-bedroom apartments start at $1695/month for 736 sq ft. Again, seems pretty reasonable for a brand new building. The apartment for $3050/month is a 1244 sq ft live/work unit, not a normal apartment.

Average asking price in January 2024 for actively listed 1-bedroom apartments was $1326/month. For 2-bedroom apartments the average asking price was $1733/month. So the prices for the ZU (I also hate the name haha) are very typical for Winnipeg right now.

Lastly, new buildings are always going to be more expensive. Increasing housing supply increases the vacancy rate, which helps reduce apartment prices. Winnipeg is currently sitting at a 1.8% rental vacancy rate. Source is below:

https://assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sites...0-0263496436ed

Austin, Texas saw rent prices drop by 12.5% last year due to a large influx in new housing supply. So yes, building more housing works.

https://therealdeal.com/texas/2024/0...-drop-by-12-5/

[trueviking]

Seems like reasonable pricing for the Zu.

No bedroom doors or front entry closets is weird. Cheaper to build I guess.

I find those floor plan graphics difficult to read. Simple line drawing plans would be better.

[Atrial78]

Perhaps I judged it too quick, I suppose we'll see how it does. Given the low vacancy rate in Winnipeg it will likely fill up. Some of the floor plans are interesting/strange, like the Harlequin plan which has the bed sitting in the living room. Sounds like a studio, but given its square footage it's advertised as a 1 bedroom. The Valerie plan is $1150 for 440 sqft. Truly a zoo lol.

As for rent prices, I worry that increases are far outweighing wage gains. Unlike Austin, Winnipeg doesn't have a lot of well-paying tech companies building large offices. Buildings are filling because of population gain, but people are also spending increasingly larger portions of their incomes to afford rent.

[anthonyk]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I find those floor plan graphics difficult to read. Simple line drawing plans would be better.

I think the floor plan graphics are easier to read for the people that don't spend 8 hours/day reading architectural line drawings

[borkborkbork]

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...e-ave-winnipeg

Half an acre of OV land close to RT/confusion corner. $3.5M feels like an ambitious price.