The owner of the vacant St. Charles Hotel says his plan to convert it to affordable housing has changed, and he will instead build a multi-unit building on the adjacent parking lot.
Ken Zaifman bought the hotel in 2005 and owns the adjoining parking lot at 38 Albert St.
Zaifman tried to turn the St. Charles into a boutique hotel, but the 111-year-old building was given heritage designation in 1986, which protects its exterior from being altered or demolished.
In December 2022, he said he planned to turn the hotel into affordable housing.
Zaifman said he still plans to develop the hotel, but high construction costs and issues related to the heritage designation forced him to pivot. So, he’s decided to build a complex from the ground up on the parking lot.
He said the 12-storey, 120-unit building would have “residential, multi-family and affordable housing.”
“The challenges of redeveloping (the St. Charles Hotel) are a lot greater than just building on a stand-alone vacant parking lot,” he said Thursday. “We still intend to do something there once we get through this, as this works out.”
Zaifman has partnered with Serhal Constructing and has submitted plans for the new building. He said he hopes construction can begin this year.
He plans to apply for funding to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
The St. Charles is one of more than 100 buildings in the Exchange District National Historic Site.
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
Malak Abas
Reporter
Malak Abas is a reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press.
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