Winnipeg Construction X

[Biff]

Originally Posted by drew

^ it's not to say that every house will have a problem, probably 90 out of 100 will be fine. You just don't want to be that house.

If you build new, you will likely notice problems in the short term, if they are there.

Big picture kind of stuff - my wife didn't want to spend the $10k to build the house on piles because it seemed like a waste as you will never see them. We are both thankful we did.

One of the main things (if I were to do it again is 10 ft basement walls). We waffled back and forth as it was another $5k or so. Should have done it.

[Biff]

There is an RFP out by the City to upgrade the cable stay and pylon lights on the Esplanade Riel Bridge with coloured LED lights.

[esquire]

^ That's great, it could be a nice upgrade to the traditional postcard view of the city. Considering how much lighting has improved in recent years I'd love to see more LED lights used around town in applications like that... the Legislature and its grounds always struck me as an obvious candidate for that kind of treatment.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Biff

There is an RFP out by the City to upgrade the cable stay and pylon lights on the Esplanade Riel Bridge with coloured LED lights.

Wooot taken them long enough yeesh

2010

[Only The Lonely..]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

The province used to have really ancient 'socialist 1970s ideas' on rent control that changed early in the 2000s (see years 2002 - 2003 on the above chart).

I attribute this to the sudden boom in 'apartment' dwellings.

I remember all the buildings my college friends lived in 1990s/2000s as being really run down (1960s/70s stock) back then.

One time, we were smoking up on the roof of a 1910s apartment block downtown and the exterior brick wall that my friend was leaning on collapsed!



Literally nothing new was being built back then.

There was no incentive at all to renovate or invest in your property. A less than 1% rental vacancy rate. Rent was capped at like $600/month. It was that bad.


I think the Fort Garry Place complex built in 1991 were the only 'new' apartment towers for like 25 years.


My grandfather who owned a similar 8 unit 1970s block in St. James had ABSOLUTELY ZERO incentive to renovate because he couldn't recoup his costs. We're talking about he used 30 year old appliances.

I also remember seeing several abandoned apartment blocks in my youth (i.e. completely boarded up.. both downtown, and even in St.Boniface and Osborne in the 2000s).


Like the Downtown SHED (which has resulted in numerous new highrise developments downtown) this is an example of good/bad public policy being set and then the public reaping the benefits a decade later.

[bomberjet]

I have become detached from the RFP process ever since the City went to MERX, the Cities own new website layout and my work life.

Basically joe blow can not go in and see what exactly the RFP details, only a cursory overview. This is backwards in terms of transparency, IMO. Same with the Province. Everything should be public. Including bid prices for everything, and detailed selection review information on who was selected and why. They really only do this for actual goods tendered, including building roads. Professional services they tend not to release bid information. Just whom was selected and at what cost. That is not transparent at all and leads to favouritism.

[cllew]

If professional services bids were publicly opened the feeling is nobody would submit a bid as the different professions don't want the public to know how much they bid over the lowest bidder for the same job.

Contractors apparently don't have the same issue with the public knowing what they think a project should cost.

[bomberjet]

.

[1ajs]

reveved this email this morning from RED might interest a few folks on here
(http://red.memberlodge.org)

I have been asked by Glen Murray and the Exchange District Biz to send members of the Residents of the Exchange District this invitation to participate in an important planning process that will set the initiatives that will shape the future of the Exchange District. I hope you can invest a bit of time to join the discussion and contribute your ideas in one, or more, of the sessions outlined below.

John Giavedoni
Executive Director
Residents of the Exchange District

The Exchange District BIZ has been leading an in-depth planning process to secure a healthy and prosperous future for the Exchange District. You may remember the first sessions on building this plan were organized by our colleagues at Scatliff, Miller + Murray, a leading Canadian planning firm.

I am writing to you today in the hopes that you’ll join me in participating in the second phase of this planning process. We are asking you to join in co-authoring a new set of district initiatives which will be used to shape the future development of this vibrant community.

The goal of these sessions is to bring together people like you, who are active in the area and/or want to be included in local urban planning and renewal. Through the discussions, the community will identify projects and opportunities to create a stronger and more sustainable Exchange District.

Importantly, the vision which results from these workshops will be augmented by a “Community Based Investment Strategy” that will model the potential of the various initiatives and develop investment plans to ensure they are realized. By combining public, private, and non-profit sectors through this project, the community will be able to develop tools and pathways so that each initiative will reach its maximum potential.

Given the present challenges facing our community, the need to organize community members and pursue grassroots development has never been greater. Here, your knowledge and experience of the community is an invaluable asset, meaning that your participation in the project would be a major contribution to the neighbourhood in which we live, work and/or play. We look forward to sitting down with you virtually to have this important conversation.





Seven (7) precincts have been designated and are described on the map included above. There is a scheduled online planning session for each precinct, and we strongly recommend that if you are able that you attend the virtual session for the precinct your business or residence is located in. If another area of the Exchange District Plan Study Area interests you, we hope you will attend that session as well.




You are invited to attend any or all the following sessions and we particularly hope to see you at the session for your specific precinct:

Week One

Chinatown: Wednesday, January 19th, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Neeginan: Friday, January 21st Noon to 4:00 pm

Week Two

Education/Innovation: Tuesday, January 25th, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

The Rows: Wednesday, January 26, 9:00 am to Noon

ALEX & Waterfront Living (2 Precincts): Thursday, January 27, 8:00 am to Noon

Connection/Intensification: Friday, January 28. noon to 3:00 pm

Register Here
Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you at one of the sessions.

Sincerely,


Glen Murray7
Project Coordinator
(Former Mayor of Winnipeg)

[pspeid]

Nice to see Glen Murray involved in the city again.

[bomberjet]

I follow Glen Murray on Twitter and he's always pro Winnipeg. Great news. He's been living here for a number of years since leaving Toronto.

[esquire]

That stretch when Glen Murray and Gary Doer were in office over the same period from 1999-2004 was a great time for the City of Winnipeg. It felt like the city came out of its late 90s malaise and started to build again. The seeds for so many of the iconic projects of Winnipeg's recent past were sown during that era. It's great to have Glen Murray back in town, as he has been for some years now, contributing again.

[soewnz]

Did anyone else notice maybe a month or two back the LED streetlights that seemed more like black lights on Wellington Crescent near Munson Park? Just curious if anyone knows if those were an "oops" order by a City of Winnipeg employee. Seems that they've now been distributed around the area so it feels less like you're driving into a nightclub/glow bowling alley...

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by soewnz

Did anyone else notice maybe a month or two back the LED streetlights that seemed more like black lights on Wellington Crescent near Munson Park? Just curious if anyone knows if those were an "oops" order by a City of Winnipeg employee. Seems that they've now been distributed around the area so it feels less like you're driving into a nightclub/glow bowling alley...

Defective lights. There are big areas where there's a total string of them. Made the news even. It's not the city as I understand it, Hydro is responsible for the street lights.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by soewnz

Did anyone else notice maybe a month or two back the LED streetlights that seemed more like black lights on Wellington Crescent near Munson Park? Just curious if anyone knows if those were an "oops" order by a City of Winnipeg employee. Seems that they've now been distributed around the area so it feels less like you're driving into a nightclub/glow bowling alley...

there was a thing in the new about this and a couple other areas being like that

[thebasketballgeek]

There’s a bunch of them in Bridgwater that turned purple. Tbh I kind of like them.

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by soewnz

Did anyone else notice maybe a month or two back the LED streetlights that seemed more like black lights on Wellington Crescent near Munson Park? Just curious if anyone knows if those were an "oops" order by a City of Winnipeg employee. Seems that they've now been distributed around the area so it feels less like you're driving into a nightclub/glow bowling alley...

Its been a systemic issue with the manufacturer

[thebasketballgeek]

The December numbers for dwelling unit construction has been published so now we can confirm the amount of housing starts in Winnipeg for 2021. We constructed 5,744 units which is by far a new record beating 2017 by nearly 700 units while also building less single-family units.



It appears the winner for most units constructed goes to the Riel Community (St. Boniface, St. Vital, and St. Norbert) with 1,900 units constructed in this area and it wasn't even close. I suspect the Sage Creek developments has been a major catalyst for the South East part of the city especially with the Bonavista suburb booming in construction.

The Assiniboia community (Waverley West, Charleswood, and Tuxedo) had very low activity with the 111 units from apartments this month coming from the completion of the Bravado. I expect this area to heavily pick it up this year as there has been new activity in Bridgwater Centre and Prairie Pointe.

The other areas were hovering around the 1,000 mark with each having a drastic increases from the year before as the city in general is up 49% from last year. From looking at construction activity and proposals presented already I expect every community to build even more units and break the record set this year. Even though the population of Winnipeg is currently flatlining we have a housing supply shortage so expect this activity to continue for the next few years. If I had to make a prediction for next year I think we easily cross 6,000 housing starts and get to the 6,500 range. Also, this appears to not include 300 Main so expect a huge number of units constructed for January.

If I had to pick a winner for most construction activity this year I am going to go out on a limb and say the West Kildonan-Lord Selkirk community. Either way I am loving these numbers!

[Bobby604]

Huntington Homes quote was $850,000-$950,000 for a 1800-2100SQF. Rough estimate with us already owning the land.

Big Money.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Bobby604

Huntington Homes quote was $850,000-$950,000 for a 1800-2100SQF. Rough estimate with us already owning the land.

Big Money.

wow