The desire to stay put at their long-leased homes is a shared goal for some non-profits that are considering buying their city-owned buildings.
The head of Water Ski Wakeboard Manitoba said there’s too little information to decide whether they will wind up buying the three buildings they’ve created at 365 Murdock Rd. or whether the city could part with the entire property that’s key to their operations. For now, they are interested in discussing the option.
“Why wouldn’t we want to own it if it’s feasible?” said Lori Mahoney, the organization’s executive director.
TREVOR HAGAN / FREE PRESS FILES
Some non-profits are considering buying their city-owned buildings.
“(For now), it’s a retention pond/lake that functions, that serves a purpose and we get to just be guests on it,” she noted.
Mahoney said the option to buy the buildings for $1 could be pursued, though determining whether a purchase makes sense is complicated.
“We had concerns about, certainly, the price, what the taxes would be, what exactly are we buying. To own the building and not own the property is of no use to us because, if they can get us off the property, what’s having the building (worth)?” she said.
Mahoney said the large property is critical to the organization, including the half-mile “lake,” which also serves as a retention pond. The water body has hosted many water skiing competitions, provincial team training sessions, skiing lessons and even some Pan Am games events back in 1999.
Mahoney said the group’s training facility has been in place since 1998 and there are now three buildings on the property, including a large boathouse, washroom/shower building and a viewing trailer, that the group runs and maintains.
“We pay all the bills and expenses, but (the city owns) the buildings,” she said.
Mahoney said the site’s future ownership is complicated by the fact the retention pond is managed by Winnipeg water and waste, due to its flood-control value.
“That will supersede anything we want to do or the city wants to do,” she said.
The group is one of 12 organizations that have expressed interest in buying their city-owned buildings, as per a recent report.
It calls for council to grant city staff the power to negotiate the sale of the 12 civic buildings, which it estimates are worth $5 million to $10 million, to the non-profit tenants who use them.
Several sale options could be considered, including selling properties to tenants at below-market value, possibly for as little as $1 each and with or without a clause to reverse the sale under certain conditions, entering into a long-term ground lease at below-market value (where the city keeps the land and the tenant owns the building) or selling the property to the tenant at market value. Any sales for less than 80 per cent of market value would require individual approvals from the property and development committee, if council gives final approval to the plan.
A daycare director said her board is interested in buying their property, mainly to ensure stability for parents and prevent the city from selling it to anyone else.
“We are getting the impression that (the city wants) to sell it. If they sell it and we can’t afford to buy it, then we’ve got a situation (about what) we do with our families,” said Amrita Premdas, the centre director of Wild Strawberry Children’s Centre at 659 Alverstone St.
The potential sales are part of Winnipeg’s “strategic facility master plan,” which reviewed all city-owned buildings. That led city staff to ask 40 of the city’s 86 non-profit tenants if they would buy the buildings they occupy, excluding others that can’t be sold, such as community centres.
Premdas said her daycare has been using the Alverstone building since 1978 and wants to avoid moving further away from the families who rely on it.
“Our first priority is to make sure we keep the families in the same centre so we don’t disrupt their lives,” she said.
Like Mahoney, Premdas said her organization maintains and repairs its property and would seek a $1 purchase, if it opts to buy it.
The city report suggests selling buildings could save the city millions of dollars on capital costs to repair or replace them in the future.
Coun. Sherri Rollins, chairwoman of the property and development committee, said any changes should ensure stability at affected daycares in city buildings, among other key organizations.
“We shelter and we build daycares in city buildings all the time,” said Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry).
On Thursday, the property and development committee voted in favour of having staff negotiate potential deals on the properties.
City property and development officials have suggested direct negotiations with tenants, instead of putting buildings for sale on the public market, should help to ensure the non-profit tenants can remain in place.
The plan would require full city council approval.
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
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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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