The proposal for Portage Place is shaping up. The Pan Am Clinic tower is a little shorter as is the apartment tower for the east and west pads of the soon to be converted mall but the partnership between the three main partners is looking more solid. The True North, Southern Chiefs organization and the province of Manitoba have made a a definitive commitment to start construction in the new year. The cost for Portage Place is still listed as $650 million and the The Bay rehabilitation is listed at $200 million.
This proposal is far superior than what was offered by eastern developers. Still, there is a lot of confusion as many people think that True North is buying a mall and that the food court will still be there will gangsters dealing drugs and people dying in bus depots. First, it should be clear that the mall is gone as we know it. A food court will be replaced with an entrance to the Pan Am Clinic above. The atrium will be removed, a second floor overpass will be re-designed and the third floor will have the theatres removed as and above floors will be surgical suites, dialysis, a medical clinic and other services. The far east side pass will be a 15 floor apartment with affordable suites owned by True North and SCO.
There has not been much talk about what happens to the old mall part but the front will be carved back as well as the back for a greenway. The Y will remain and, likely, the Prairie Theatre Exchange. The ground floor is reportedly promised to a grocery store not yet named. I think it has to repeated over and over that it will not be a mall anymore. There won't be a food court. It will be a very busy medical clinic.
How busy? Just take a look at Pan Am now. The parking lot is packed to the rafters every single day. A line-up is there even before it opens and if you come too late, you don't get in that day. They have been due to expand for years. There is little doubt they will be extremely busy and the expanded surgical suites for joint replacement will be much needed.
Historically, people in Winnipeg would go to the Medical Arts Building, the Winnipeg Clinic and the Boyd Building for a variety of medical appointments. This will be a return to that and because the services are so sought out, it is unlikely someone is going to turn down their knee surgery just because it is not in the Grant Park area. People will be grateful if they don't have to wait. It is highly doubtful security will be overlooked. There will be , without a doubt, a whack of security. Expect, it is to be highly visible and vigilant.
The present mall owners have to be paid and the three levels of government as well for the overall ownership of the parkade, air and land rights. The result will be tens of millions going to The Forks. This deal is as important to The Forks final developments as it is to North Portage. I cannot think this deal still doesn't have some refinements coming. However, the parkade is the jewel in the crown as it is a perennial money maker in the millions. If True North acquires Portage Place, they own just shy of 1000 parking spaces for their facility.
The commentary about downtown and Portage Place is universally pretty bad. Some of it is that the whole thing is waste of time and no one goes downtown for any reason at all. And those that do die a painful death in the gutter in an unsolved homicide. There are certainly plenty of examples of terrible things happening downtown and the poverty and homelessness has been deeply felt post pandemic.
However, some people continue to work and live downtown, others come down for concerts, Jets games or boat shows. There is life in the area and in 2019, things looked pretty positive. It could be that way again. Big projects in and of themselves won't transform things. And sometimes, like The Forks, it is a slow burn to reach success and build from it. Neighbourhoods are not built overnight.
When Earls put up their Main Street location there were some people who thought they were crazy but it had proved to be very successful location for them. Their move into Winnipeg Square continues that trend. Likewise when the arena went downtown, people said they would never go. For years it has filled the streets with people with Jets and Moose game and concerts. Even the attendance issues now are more seen as a reflection of hockey performance first and foremost rather than being downtown.
The True North owners have been working year by year since they moved downtown to bring more dynamism to the area. Portage Place will now see the type of investment that really didn't continue after it's initial build. But it will take other businesses, shops, restaurants to build the street back up. There have been a few convenience stores near University of Winnipeg that have opened and a few restaurants opening on Portage that might indicate some renewed confidence in the street.
If the Portage Place redevelopment can bring some life to the ground level part of the street, it will accomplish a lot. One of the big flaws of the mall was that it left the northside of the street with a lot of walls and few entrances. It will be interesting how True North changes that. What no one wants is for encampments to go up because people don't have a place to live or gather. And no one wants to feel unsafe.
It will be a lot of work to see this through but if a lot of people end up living in the area and have grocery stores, resource centers and places to feel safe, it will go a long way,
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