Years after the owner of the historic and long-vacant St. Charles Hotel promised it would be re-developed, Heritage Winnipeg says the city government can no longer ignore the deterioration of the Exchange District property.
“If you own a (historic site), you should be proud and want to redevelop,” executive director Cindy Tugwell said Thursday.
“It’s one of the few that’s completely derelict and been sitting for years.”
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
The St. Charles Hotel — long an empty eyesore in the Exchange District — has landed on the National Trust for Canada’s endangered buildings list.
The three-storey structure at 235 Notre Dame Ave., which is owned by immigration lawyer Ken Zaifman, has been vacant since 2008. It has landed on a list of “top 10 endangered places” curated by the National Trust for Canada, a charity focused on saving and renewing heritage spaces across Canada. The online list describes the St. Charles as “a very prominent victim of demolition by neglect.”
It is one of more than 100 buildings located in the Exchange District National Historic Site.
While the city has tightened bylaws on vacant building ownership in recent years, it’s not doing enough to ensure the landmark, built in 1913 is protected, Tugwell said.
“It’s too bad, because that building’s already 15 years behind being redeveloped,” she said.
“Every year it sits, it becomes less and less enticing to a developer to want to re-develop (and) becomes more and more looking at a vacant lot to build a new building.”
Zaifman bought the hotel for $800,000 in 2005 and lost a court battle with the city three years later in which he wanted the historical designation removed. He had said he planned to demolish the property and build a boutique hotel. The designation means the exterior is protected from being removed or altered and the owner would need permission from the city before making alterations.
In 2022, Zaifman told the media he planned to turn the property into affordable housing; in May of this year, he said he planned to build an apartment building on the adjacent parking lot. Neither plan has materialized and a city spokesperson confirmed the building is still subject to the vacant building bylaw.
On Thursday, Zaifman would only say he wasn’t consulted about the National Trust of Canada list.
Tugwell said she’s fed up with his plans not coming to fruition. She said the city has two options: seize the property through its “taking title without compensation” process, which allows the city to take building owners to court if a vacant building isn’t kept in good repair; or negotiate with Zaifman to take ownership of the property and divest it to a private developer.
“Unless I’m missing something, that’s a lack of political will to want to take it or to negotiate a sale,” she said Thursday.
Vivian Santos, councillor for Point Douglas, said Thursday she’s “still hopeful” the space will be developed by Zaifman.
“I have not yet received any further plans (from him), however, I do know the empty lot behind the building could see some revitalization some time in the near future,” she wrote in an email. She didn’t elaborate.
She said Tugwell’s suggestions to take control of the property are “not lost” on her but require discussion by fellow councillors and the provincial government.
Tugwell accused Zaifman of purposely letting the building deteriorate to necessitate a demolition and make the space more appealing to buyers.
“We can’t force them to sell… It deteriorates even more, and it becomes, possibly, a safety issue. It’s not feasible anymore to redevelop and it gets de-listed and demolished. Then he’s got lucrative property for development in the Exchange that hasn’t been available for over 100 years.”
Chris Wiebe of the National Trust for Canada said the organization has long had an interest in the Exchange District’s “unrivalled” concentration of historic buildings.
The St. Charles was highlighted because it’s a good example of a building that can be repurposed.
“It’s been sitting there for 15 years … and yet it’s still standing and it’s still in redeemable condition,” he said.
“That’s a testament to the fact of its incredible building materials, but also the strong construction techniques that can take that kind of abuse over a decade and a half.”
The hotel was constructed at a cost of $122,000 by Charles McCarrey, who also owned the St. Regis Hotel on Smith Street, at a time demand for living accommodation was skyrocketing in Winnipeg. The St. Regis was demolished in 2020, 110 years after it was built, to make way for mixed-use development.
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
Malak Abas
Reporter
Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.
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