Royal Bank Building

220 Portage Avenue Royal Bank Building

Artis, the Winnipeg-based owner of what most Winnipeggers know as the Trizec building, looks to gobble up another Portage Avenue property in a deal that will cost $40 plus million. The property in question is one of Winnipeg's oldest modern office towers at 220 Portage Avenue: Royal Bank Building.

The tower pre-dates the Richardson Building and was built in 1966 and stands 17 stories. It was last renovated in a major way in 1997 and has had award winning energy savings upgrades in the last few years. The blue chip tenants are Royal Bank as well as some grain companies, accountancy firms and lawyers.

While the building has no parking, it is connected to 360 Main Street (Trizec) and the three level underground parkade. Likewise, the building opens onto the Concourse, Portage and Main and Winnipeg Square.

Armin Martens runs Artis but he is no stranger to Winnipeg real estate. The Martens family has owned Marwest within the family for years and has developed many a property in the city.

With the Royal Bank building joining the Artis fold, there is very little now at Portage and Main that is not owned by a Winnipeg company (aside from the historic Bank of Montreal branch at 335 Main Street).

Artis is working with the Chipman family's Longboat to develop the property north of the MTS Centre. It is likely this isn't the last work we have seen from either company in developing property in this vicinity.