current forum:Winnipeg Urban Issues & Provincial Affairs

[sputnik]

Glad they finally figured out why the developers were not building that many condos downtown.

What exactly would that be?

[cancelbot]

Walking around the other day, I noticed that the former skate/snowboard shop on Princess near RRC is about to become Vixen Salon. Good luck to them!

(Now they just need some neighbours across the street in the Fairchild Building's commercial spaces...)

[eastsider]

Jujumar Bakery on McDermot (Pastry Castle) should be open within a week. They are already baking store orders but not quite set up yet for patrons. I got to sample some of their fresh baked goodies yesterday.......OMG are we in for a treat!

[JFratthé]

Hey guys. Here's an interview I made with Mark Penner of Green Seed Development, the man behind the YouCube condos, Bloc10 and BGBX. We shot a video on the rooftop of one of the units.

JF Ratthé

http://tinyurl.com/yk3t3nk

[MR_Point]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/busine ... 54942.html
Winnipeg Free Press

Condos at ex-Penthouse
Alta. developer eyes housing at 107-year-old former furniture store
By: Bartley Kives

The former home of Penthouse Furniture may soon house actual penthouses, as an Alberta developer plans to convert the warehouse at Princess Street and Bannatyne Avenue into a residential building.

Canmore-based Taurean Global Properties has purchased the 107-year-old heritage structure originally known as the Campbell Brothers & Wilson Warehouse and plans to renovate the interior to house at least 60 condominium units.

[cancelbot]

^ That project was floated just after Penthouse closed down - nice to see it moving forward, albeit in slightly modified form (as a condo as opposed to rental units).

Once occupied, this building will help liven up Princess a bit, which unlike the rest of the Exchange, feels like it hasn't really become any more vibrant over the past decade despite being home to a number of major renovation projects in the Exchange including RRC, Fairchild Lofts, Hemisphere Lofts, the Edge, and others.

[sputnik]

Thiessen said he would have preferred to create rental units only, but could not make the numbers work, even with the help of the city's multi-family and mixed-use property-tax credits and a matching education-tax credit program the province has promised to introduce soon.

I wonder what would have made it so that numbers didn't work?

Rent controls perhaps?

[JFratthé]

Fantastic news! In my opinion, they should build units starting in the 650 sq ft range since there is a lack of them in the area and those are in large demand. The similar size units at the You Cube project sold out first and fast.

This in addition to the 150 proposed condo project by the Qualico group on Market and James will definitely help with the revitalization of the area. Let's see how the request to not incorporate commercial space on the main floor goes.

[cancelbot]

This in addition to the 150 proposed condo project by the Qualico group on Market and James will definitely help with the revitalization of the area. Let's see how the request to not incorporate commercial space on the main floor goes.

I found that comment regarding main floor commercial rather interesting.

What else could you really do with main floor space if not commercial? I doubt anyone would want a residential unit on the main floor.

Why is the uptake so slow on commercial space anyway? There is a decent amount of pedestrian traffic, and there is parking both on and off street to attract people in cars. Are the landlords on Princess making any effort to lease out those spaces, or is it (hard to believe) not worth it for them?

Contrary to popular opinion, downtown Winnipeg has a decent amount of streetfront retail, with a lot of it in situated in unlikely locations like Berns & Black, which just opened up on the west side of Main Street where there is relatively little pedestrian traffic and hardly anywhere to park so as to encourage impulse visits. You would think the Princess Street buildings could attract tenants like that.

[sputnik]

This in addition to the 150 proposed condo project by the Qualico group on Market and James will definitely help with the revitalization of the area. Let's see how the request to not incorporate commercial space on the main floor goes.

I found that comment regarding main floor commercial rather interesting.

What else could you really do with main floor space if not commercial? I doubt anyone would want a residential unit on the main floor.

Building amenities would be a nice use of main floor space.

Perhaps a common lounge, gym or indoor bike storage.