True North Real Estate Development officially acquired Portage Place mall Friday, putting the company’s plan to redevelop the site in motion.
In a Friday-evening news release, TNRED announced it had signed the final paperwork on the downtown mall, its land and assets with the North Portage Development Corp., Premise Properties and Spruceland Mall Ltd.
TNRED President Jim Ludlow said the project will now “immediately mobilize” to prepare for the site’s transformation.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
True North Real Estate Development officially acquired Portage Place mall Friday.
“Years of planning and diligence has allowed our TNRED team, partners and stakeholders to envision a new community-first campus that truly serves our downtown and gives Winnipeggers another reason to reconnect with and love their downtown,” Ludlow said in the release.
The project will be done in phases, the release said. Site preparations will begin this year and foundational work for the health and housing projects will commence in April.
The 1.2-million-square-foot mixed-use project will create 216 housing units, with up to 40 per cent of them designated affordable, a health-care services tower, main-floor grocery store, community centres, office space for social agencies and other services.
On Sept. 27 the company announced it had reached a deal to buy the site from North Portage for the $650-million redevelopment.
The transaction includes the purchase of the land and parking facilities beneath the property, formerly owned by the Forks North Portage Partnership.
“The consolidation of the Portage Place lands, parking, and building under a single entity marks a pivotal moment. This alignment paves the way for their ambitious redevelopment plans, which we believe will significantly benefit the citizens of Winnipeg and the broader Manitoba community for generations to come,” Avtar Bains, president of Premise Properties, said in the release.
True North is partnering with Southern Chiefs’ Organization to deliver and manage the housing component, to be called TN-SCO Housing 92 Inc.
In the release, SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels called the housing project a “shining example of economic reconciliation in action.”
In September Ludlow said the housing component of the project should be completed by the end of 2027, and the entire development should be built by the end of 2028.
The federal government committed to its own multimillion-dollar investment in the project, which will include $10 million to support public spaces.
City council approved $40 million of incentives (which includes another $10 million of federal housing dollars earmarked for Winnipeg) while the Manitoba government previously promised to lease the health tower and fund medical services to the tune of about $77 million per year.
The project is set to include a heritage plaza and park commemorating Canada’s commitment to reconciliation, the release said.
The mall, now largely vacant, opened in 1987. Decades later, it has increasingly been deemed a poor fit for the area and faces challenges linked to addictions, poverty and homelessness.
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
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