WINNIPEG | Portage Place Redevelopment

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

This project feels too 'Skycity' to me.

Not enough real money chasing it.

No kidding, sounds like the whole business model is "give us $60M tax dollars"!

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by pegcityboy

With this being on our major thoroughfare along with the Bay wouldn’t it be prudent maybe if the feds are not coming to the party ( no idea why not $20 million is nothing to Trudeau Government) that the city and province give an extra 10 million each so this plan can come to fruition ? As long as Starlight have their ducks in a row and credible ! Would not like to see boarded up Bay building AND rundown Portage Place would be a bad representation of downtown and Winnipeg to visitors and traveling business people! Any thoughts ?

Maybe that's why Pallister has been holding back in spending federal funding in other areas? Completely conjecture on my part, but it seems like he was pretty supportive of this project. I've wondered if he secretly had a "plan B" to kick in the rest of the funding if the Feds fell through??

[WinCitySparky]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

This project feels too 'Skycity' to me.

Not enough real money chasing it.

Agreed

[Biff]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

No kidding, sounds like the whole business model is "give us $60M tax dollars"!

I don't have all the details, but I don't believe there is a ton of "actual" dollars being given to Starlight by the City and the Province. Both of their contributions are heavy on the tax free portions and other incentives per unit of affordable housing.

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by Wigglez

Did you give her a firm timeline to respond? Maybe, much like the feds with this project, she's waiting for a very specific day to respond finally?

Well its been 3 years now!

Based on the tone in the article. Sounds like they submitted an application and have heard zero from the Feds. Like at all. Did they just send in some papers and then sit around? Wouldn't they have some sort of contact they call to discuss this topic?

[esquire]

I'm getting bad vibes from this proposal. Pre-covid I might have thought some good would come of it, but let's face it, with downtown having been eviscerated since this was first pitched a year and a half ago (few workers around, no events, shops and restaurants closing) it's clear that this is a pretty tough time to start a new project on a massive scale like what Starlight is proposing. You have to wonder if the real business plan is to just squeeze as much money as they can out of the various levels of government to buy an asset that government mostly paid for in the first place.

It would be a bit different if the developer had a solid reputation, but is that something these guys have?

[bomberjet]

I have no idea about them.

Remind me again how this affects Railside. Is this the group that is/was buying the parkade as part of the mall purchase? So if this falls through, then Railside is likely on hold?

[cheswick]

More details in a CBC article. Including comments from Vandal about increased asks a week and a half ago including $240mm in loans.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...hase-1.5933566

[(sub)urban]

Originally Posted by cheswick

More details in a CBC article. Including comments from Vandal about increased asks a week and a half ago including $240mm in loans.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...hase-1.5933566

LOL. Sounds like that's all she wrote about that one.

Time of death, March 2nd, 2021.

Figured there must've been more to it than Starlight was letting on. Trudeau wouldn't kill this project over an innocent $20M in funding right now.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by (sub)urban

LOL. Sounds like that's all she wrote about that one.

Time of death, March 2nd, 2021.

Figured there must've been more to it than Starlight was letting on. Trudeau wouldn't kill this project over an innocent $20M in funding right now.

I agree. Sad, but maybe for the best if the deal is going to keep getting worse and worse.

[BAKGUY]

If the Portage Place reno project does not come to fruition, My hopes for a concrete plan for The Bay Building reno is quite dim.

[drew]

^ the two don't need to be dependant on each other.

Portage Place remains a (fading) going concern - even if this development doesn't go thru.

It may be better to focus funding and attention towards the Bay. Portage Place can wait for another day, and perhaps a more well healed developer.

[The Unknown Poster]

Maybe if they wait long enough, True North will want it. Might make a nice location for a new arena in 20 years :-)

[thurmas]

Downtown progress seems to have nose dived in Bowman second term dead bay Portage place that is incredibly difficult to redevelop Winnipeg square literally crumbling as we speak old tribune site still undeveloped. I had high hopes for Bowman in 2014 that he would attract new business to the city being former head of the chamber of commerce but the opposite seems to have happened and his only legacy will be more bike paths.

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by drew

^ the two don't need to be dependant on each other.

Portage Place remains a (fading) going concern - even if this development doesn't go thru.

It may be better to focus funding and attention towards the Bay. Portage Place can wait for another day, and perhaps a more well healed developer.

I hear ya.
However, I would think, had the Portage Place project received the green light The Bay would actually get more momentum behind it so they could compliment one each other since they could be planned out with care & less duplication of retailers or whatever was to come... Just saying.

[T'Cona]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Downtown progress seems to have nose dived in Bowman second term dead bay Portage place that is incredibly difficult to redevelop Winnipeg square literally crumbling as we speak old tribune site still undeveloped. I had high hopes for Bowman in 2014 that he would attract new business to the city being former head of the chamber of commerce but the opposite seems to have happened and his only legacy will be more bike paths.

I do not see him as a champion of downtown.

[WinCitySparky]

Yeah with the recent revelations on CBC, it either signals that Starlight was looking for a guaranteed “no” to wiggle out of this plan due to the pandemic’s effects on the retail landscape (or other reasons), or they are shady as fuck like the last guys (Fortress).

[esquire]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

Yeah with the recent revelations on CBC, it either signals that Starlight was looking for a guaranteed “no” to wiggle out of this plan due to the pandemic’s effects on the retail landscape (or other reasons), or they are shady as fuck like the last guys (Fortress).

Sounds about right. When you consider downtown Winnipeg's sharp downturn over the past year (not Bowman's fault), I would imagine the project is much less enticing to them now than it was two years ago.

[Danny D Oh]

My libertarian friends won't like this but short of leaving steaming piles of rubble in Downtown Winnipeg the three levels of government need to lead a development plan. Handing over billions to would-be developers is getting us nowhere. Create a Crown and invest that way. Affordable housing and general mixed-use development can be the core principles. Create jobs, create economic activity, collect taxes.

[Alexander 90]

These clowns are the definition of Corporate Welfare. They will ask for more money when they are 1/2 done, or they will say they will not finish.
If a local developer is not interested, this is a bad project.