Winnipeg's Exchange District | East/West | Development

[drew]

Originally Posted by Biff

They had a $10m plan to do this work back in 2010.

$20 million in 2021 construction dollars would be pretty close to $10 million in 2010 dollars once you apply the ~10% annual construction inflation.

[borkborkbork]

i don't know what will help fix downtown but adding a bunch of cultists offering Free Stress Tests to passersby is definitely not it

like if one side of the road is the Xenu people, and the other is a guy in a crooks and castles hat asking me if he can "borrow my phone for a second", i'm just gonna cross the street and lose my phone

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Biff

They had a $10m plan to do this work back in 2010.

hopefully they actualy do something.

[Hecate]

If it’s anything like the Scientology facility in Québec it will be a beautiful space with street level activity. Bookstore and coffee shop.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

i don't know what will help fix downtown but adding a bunch of cultists offering Free Stress Tests to passersby is definitely not it

like if one side of the road is the Xenu people, and the other is a guy in a crooks and castles hat asking me if he can "borrow my phone for a second", i'm just gonna cross the street and lose my phone

I take your point but look on the bright side, if they renovate the Peck Building then chances are that its future will be secured for many decades to come even if the Scientologists eventually vacate it. Bird in the hand

[Ando]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

i don't know what will help fix downtown but adding a bunch of cultists offering Free Stress Tests to passersby is definitely not it

like if one side of the road is the Xenu people, and the other is a guy in a crooks and castles hat asking me if he can "borrow my phone for a second", i'm just gonna cross the street and lose my phone

True, I would be more comfortable if it was being developed by an organization that wasn’t founded by someone who had a floating headquarters in the sky. I’m looking forward to their $40 million plan to be released in 2031.

[drew]

Originally Posted by Ando

True, I would be more comfortable if it was being developed by an organization that wasn’t founded by someone who had a floating headquarters in the sky. I’m looking forward to their $40 million plan to be released in 2031.

^ Pretty much this.

[Wigglez]

It's too bad that its still owned by a cult. That's a great building at an important location.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Ando

True, I would be more comfortable if it was being developed by an organization that wasn’t founded by someone who had a floating headquarters in the sky. I’m looking forward to their $40 million plan to be released in 2031.

I don't care either way, but why are they considered any different than any other religion. Take their $20m investment into the exchange and smile.

[bomberjet]

All religions are based on beings coming down from the sky in spaceships. The Scientology one being a more modern, made up version.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by T'Cona

I have never been there, it must be such an amazing city eh?

Definitely one of my favourite cities in the world, it's incredible.

Originally Posted by davequanbury

Interesting that you comment on things having to not get repetitive, I just love the look of brownstones, row after row after row.

I like the repetitive look of Paris buildings too.

Maybe repetitiveness isn't so much the problem as cheap bland buildings.

I'm obsessed with Newbury street in Boston. Blocks and blocks of old brownstones, all more or less the same but with different finishing, brick colours, and changes for many businesses over the years, it gives it enough variation and interest to be incredible.

Originally Posted by Biff

They had a $10m plan to do this work back in 2010.

I wonder if this is just lip service to the city to pretend they're actually going to do something again. 10 years later would make sense to avoid any derelict building issues. Would love to be wrong and even if it is alien-worshipping people, if they make the building beautiful and active, I'm ok.

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

i don't know what will help fix downtown but adding a bunch of cultists offering Free Stress Tests to passersby is definitely not it

like if one side of the road is the Xenu people, and the other is a guy in a crooks and castles hat asking me if he can "borrow my phone for a second", i'm just gonna cross the street and lose my phone

This is my favourite SSP comment of all time. The crooks & castles hat is the most perfect detail ever.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

The Scientology building on Yonge Street in Toronto has been boarded up for over eight years. There have been periodic applications for permits, but no visible work has been done:

https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...gy-m-8s.19330/

[esquire]

^ Sounds like buzzg must be right, then... it's likely a play to point at the permits and say "derelict building? what derelict building, we have permits!!!!"

Although you wonder what the point of sitting on all that real estate is if you aren't actually going to do anything with it. Is this some kind of elaborate tax shelter?

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Sounds like buzzg must be right, then... it's likely a play to point at the permits and say "derelict building? what derelict building, we have permits!!!!"

Although you wonder what the point of sitting on all that real estate is if you aren't actually going to do anything with it. Is this some kind of elaborate tax shelter?

Well they are tax exempt since they have officially been recognized as a religion. They have to park their ample assets somewhere so it might as well be real estate.

The Church and its members bought up the majority of real estate in Downtown Clearwater, essentially killing it.

https://projects.tampabay.com/projec...r-real-estate/

Most of the new owners have done little with their acquisitions. Block after block, vacant lots sit untouched, and storefronts remain empty: A former jewelry store. An empty Walgreens. A deserted coin laundry.

Tom De Vocht, a former Scientology executive who oversaw the church’s property in Clearwater from 1996 to 2001, said he believes Scientology is responding to the city’s efforts by creating a buffer to keep the public away.

“They’ve got one intention, and one intention only,” De Vocht said. “Buy up as much property as they can for the church — whether they use it or not, whether they let it sit there and rot — so no one else can be there.”

Scientology’s survival depends on the preservation of its headquarters in Clearwater.

Scientology has said it has 10 million followers, but surveys and accounts from former members suggest there are no more than 30,000 worldwide. The church’s influence comes from the estimated $3 billion in cash and assets it has collected from its followers.

Clearwater is the center of that revenue stream. Scientologists from across the globe make pilgrimages to the campus, called Flag. It’s designed not for recruiting new members but for hosting established followers. The campus collects millions each week through fundraising and payments for expensive courses and high-level religious counseling not offered anywhere else. Visitors are expected to stay in Scientology’s hotels and eat at private church restaurants.

It's a near certainty we don't have to worry about The Church of Scientology buying dozens of properties in Winnipeg resulting in massive dead zones experienced in Clearwater but it does serve as a cautionary tale.

[buzzg]

Hmm reminds me of when Hydro spent our tax money to raze a bunch buildings with businesses in them at the end of "Innovation Alley" to make a massive surface parking lot for a "church."

[NewIreland]

127 Bannatyne would have been fine. Would have looked like this building in Charlottetown.

[trueviking]

A birdie told me yesterday that an oyster bar is going into the old antiques and funk space.

[Ando]

Originally Posted by Biff

I don't care either way, but why are they considered any different than any other religion. Take their $20m investment into the exchange and smile.

I’d suggest up you do your own research if you think Scientology is just like any other religion. Lots of stuff to read on the net.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by trueviking

A birdie told me yesterday that an oyster bar is going into the old antiques and funk space.

freshly caught in the Assiniboine & Red Rivers?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

freshly caught in the Assiniboine & Red Rivers?