Friday, November 12, 2010

Exchange District Developments



The site of a new grocery at 223 McDermot Avenue. The All City Modern Convenience store appears to be going up in a former clothing store. Talia Syrie, is the co-owner. She also owns the Tall Poppy restaurant on Main. The store will be 1400 square feet.



The Woodbine Hotel is 466 Main Street. Next door at 468 Main Street will be a new gym run by Lindsay Hamel. It is the red brick building. The space will be 800 square feet.



Looking back at 120 James Avenue. Plan in place is to tear down the warehouse and build 60 condos with underground parking



The four story building in background is 128 James Avenue. The plan is to 10 condos there and commercial development. Also talked about is a four story addition.

A flurry of activity in the Exchange District lately.

There is likely to be a continued attraction to building condos and apartments in the east Exchange area in the next year or two. It has reached something of a critical mass to attract other condo dwellers and the like. More restaurants and other amenities are likely to follow.

It is probably a good idea to stand out of the way for most of what is happening but at the same time, I think the province and the city should look at what they might like to have near the museum for future use or for the city for administration. While it seems impossible now, space could be at a premium in a few years in that area.

I would like the province to commit to a science museum for the province's 150th birthday. More on that later.

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2 comments:

One Man Committee said...

From what I understand, the province owns the lot north of the Centennial Centre. It could be used for future expansion of the complex which would be great to see - something involving a science museum or a city museum along with housing or other cultural facilities would build on what's already in the area. It's about time this lot was used for something other than surface parking.

As for the City, I have no idea what their future needs are vis-a-vis office space, but with the PSB slated to come down before too long, it would be nice to see the block that it sits on redeveloped (a huge chunk of it goes unused as it is now) with perhaps a modest-sized office building for the City's use.

I would imagine that those things wouldn't happen tomorrow, but I agree that this needs to be planned carefully given the increasing scarcity of land in the area as more and more development occurs.

John Dobbin said...

I think you are right about what the province owns.

I believe that the province should build a separate museum dedicated to science as part of the 150th birth celebrations.

At its heart, the Manitoba Museum is still a "man and nature" museum despite a planetarium and science gallery.

I would love to see a science museum with the links to our province's development. Something related to rocketry and aerospace, transportation, medical science and a host of other areas.

As far as the city, I know they have been thinking about a campus-like plan for a number of years surrounding city hall. Think we should hear more about the plan.