Nancy Morris introduced our guest speaker for the evening.
Angela Mathieson is the President and CEO of CentreVenture Development Corporation (CV), an arms-length city owned agency mandated to provide leadership in the planning, coordination, and implementation of redevelopment projects in downtown Winnipeg. Established 17 years ago, CentreVenture has directly invested in over 140 downtown revitalization projects, leveraging over $800 million in private sector investment. Angela holds a Master’s Degree in City Planning and prior to joining CentreVenture, she was Manitoba’s Secretary to Cabinet for Community Economic Development and Assistant Deputy Minister for Urban Affairs. She’s a passionate Winnipegger and urbanist, and a strong believer in the economic power of healthy central cities.
The CentreVenture Development Corp. was formed in 1999. This came after a long decline in the downtown area of Winnipeg. There had been investment by the public sector over the years but it did not seem to be enough to meet critical mass. In the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s there was development such as the Centennial Centre, Trizac Building, Forks, RBC Convention Centre and Portage Place. At the end of the 1990’s the downtown Eaton’s Building closed after 94 years of operation. This was a devastating blow to downtown Winnipeg. This made people really think about the vacancies downtown and the lack of vibrancy in our downtown. We needed the community and government to invest. There was need for retail and residential construction. Winnipeg’s Mayor at the time, Glen Murray was very passionate about his support for the growth of downtown. He was instrumental in the development of CentreVenture. CentreVenture's staff operates under the guidance of a volunteer, private-sector board of directors. To date there have been 140 downtown projects that CV has been directly invested in.
Why is this so important? A downtown is the ‘image that is presented to the world’ for that city. To be appealing, there should be public amenities, culture and a certain vibrancy. This is what young people want, the Millennials. You need to keep your young people from moving away. CV was started with a $10 million gift as well as surplus properties from the City of Winnipeg. CV acts as a planning agent; public or private to facilitate development. CV also acts as a lending agent; usually in the way of a 2nd mortgage – 50 projects so far. CV will purchase derelict properties in strategic locations and help assemble the land needed for a development project – 20 projects. Housing projects in the downtown area are very important. There needs to be people present 24 hours a day. Not just during working hours. The cost of developing a high-rise residential structure (6+ stories) can be prohibitive compared to low-rise in the suburban areas. This is where incremental tax credits help the developer. The extra cost is rebated back to the developer over a 10-year period.
The development of MTS Centre as well as the tax rebate program has seen a dramatic increase in the number of residential units being developed downtown. In 1990 to 1999 there were 60 new residential units downtown. In 2000 to 2017 there have been 2000 units developed. There are another 1600 in some stage of development. In 1999 it became important to work on the preservation of heritage properties. These types of properties are unmatched anywhere else in Canada. CV has been involved in equity or grants in the land assembly involving 63 heritage properties. This activity has all resulted in $1.2 billion in private sector investment in downtown Winnipeg.
Winnipeg has a very large downtown area. CentreVenture organizes its project activities through a ‘district strategy’ planning approach, recognizing that Winnipeg’s downtown is large and an amalgam of distinct neighbourhoods, with different assets and opportunities that warrant a tailored approach to investment and revitalization.
- East Waterfront;Development started in 2004 with Waterfront Drive. There are 500 new housing units built over the past 14 years. This is the most sought-after housing area in the downtown. A future development is the James Avenue Pumping Station (was for fire suppression in the Exchange area, closed 1986). A Victoria developer is going to convert it to office space but the pumps are designated heritage items. They must remain. So, a floating floor will be constructed that will allow viewing of the original pumps.
- SHED;This would be the central business district of downtown including MTS Centre, RBC Convention Centre, The Met, The Burt. Currently working on street scaping as well as the major development at True North Square. This development will include office, retail and housing. Also, there will be the 5-star Sutton Place Hotel. This is the largest downtown project ever at $400 million. The project will finish in phases with the office tower next year, the housing tower the year after and finally the hotel the year after that. The development at Main and Graham by Artis REIT will be a 40-story tower to include office, condo, parkade, bars and restaurants. It is all about reaching a critical mass of people in the downtown core.
- West Exchange District;West of Main St. that includes the downtown campus of R.R.C.; Duff Roblin Centre, Union Bank-Culinary /Hospitality, and the Innovation Centre next year.
- Market Lands;
The next area to focus on that includes the old Public Safety building as well as the associated parkade. In 1894 the land was sold to the City of Winnipeg for $600 with the attached caveat that the land must be used for a public market. This was developed as the first public market in Winnipeg. It was also the first property to be taxed by the City of Winnipeg. The market was actually governed by a ‘Committee of Council’, for who got a stall, prices etc. This is a 2.5 acre site and will be developed with retail and residential.
Q/A
- Nancy Morris asked about downtown parking, specifically the number of loading zones.
A. Last year the city looked at where the loading zones were and is working on adjusting the number as to true need. There is also a need to start developing parkades. Housing projects with parkades as part of the design. Street parking needs to turn over quicker. The city is working on that as well.
- Lyle Miller questioned regarding opening of Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic.
A. CV is in favor of opening the corner to pedestrians in an incremental way. Right now, walking patterns downtown avoid Portage and Main. You need to have above ground foot traffic to reach a critical mass position.
Ed Thompson thanked Angela for her informative presentation. She was advised that a donation in her name would be made to ShelterBox.