A $650-million proposal to replace the run-down Portage Place mall was championed as a key step toward reconciliation and downtown revitalization on Tuesday.
An Indigenous leader said the planned 16-storey residential tower included in the 1.2-million-square-foot mixed-use project will meet key local needs.
“We all know the challenges that we’re facing here in Winnipeg. This is a community-driven project. It’s about investing in Winnipeg,” Southern Chiefs’ Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels told members of city council’s executive policy committee on Tuesday.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Winnipeg city council’s executive policy committee voted unanimously Tuesday in favour of a $650-million proposal to replace the run-down Portage Place mall, though council will cast the final city vote on Sept. 26.
SCO is a partner in the housing portion of the True North Real Estate Development project, which would create 216 housing units, with up to 40 per cent of them deemed affordable. SCO is also leading the major Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn multi-use redevelopment of the former Bay building at Portage Avenue and Memorial Boulevard. During a recent tour of that site, Daniels said 80 per cent of employees working on the project were Indigenous, including some he said had been homeless.
“I wanted to share that with you because I think it’s an important story about what the (Portage Place) partnership is going to look like,” he told the committee.
He said his organization and True North share a commitment to economic reconciliation.
The head of an organization set to continue operating alongside the new development said she’s optimistic the project will help attract people back downtown.
“We cannot survive without the redevelopment of Portage Place but we are trying our best anyway. It’s so sad. (Near) our portion of Portage Place is an empty shell,” said Cordella Friesen, president of the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg.
Despite the emptiness of the mall itself, Friesen noted the Y has more than 1,000 visitors per day from a “vibrant” downtown community.
“(We) continue to serve the downtown community but we cannot do this alone,” she said.
Along with the residential tower, the Portage Place redevelopment would include a 15-storey health-care services tower, main-floor grocery store, community centres, office space for social agencies and other services. The atrium at Edmonton Street would be removed and replaced with an outdoor pedestrian greenway that connects to Central Park, to the north.
EPC voted unanimously in favour of the project Tuesday, though council will cast the final city vote on Sept. 26.
If approved, the city would provide $40 million of grants over the next 25 years to support the project, including $10 million in federal housing dollars.
Shortly before the vote, True North Real Estate Development’s president told the committee plenty of work is underway on the project.
“We are now at ‘go time.’ We’ve had, essentially, approvals from our board to proceed… And the good folks on Broadway are working feverishly (on) completing what we need to complete for the end of this month,” said Jim Ludlow.
Under the proposed agreement, The Forks North Portage Partnership would sell the land, parking and “air rights” (to build upwards) at the site to True North for $34.5 million. The city is a member of the partnership along with the provincial and federal governments, so the deal would require the approval of all three.
Architecture49
The Portage Place proposal includes a planned 16-storey residential tower as part of the 1.2-million-square-foot mixed-use project.
Ludlow told the Free Press he expects to hear from all parties soon.
“I think everybody’s intention is to get everything finished by the end of the month,” he said.
Mayor Scott Gillingham said the project to replace the ailing mall would mark a massive step toward revitalizing downtown.
“I believe that the redevelopment of Portage Place will unlock other development in the downtown… This is a very big and very, very important investment to proceed,” said Gillingham.
Meanwhile, EPC voted to reverse a controversial plan to cut $2.1 million from community and neighbourhood grants in each of the next three years.
Many groups that feared their funding would be cut or eliminated rallied against the changes in June. On Tuesday, EPC voted to restore overall funding to $3.4 million per year and also granted a request to let the money cover operating costs.
Coun. Vivian Santos, who raised the amendments, said the changes reflect the fact some grant recipients told the city they wouldn’t survive without operating and programming support.
“It’s very important to the community (to fund) programming. We’ve heard (that) loud and clear in the previous months,” said Santos.
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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
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