Lands Around Polo Park Being Sold Off

 

Shindico has indicated that Cadillac Fairview's priority surrounding Polo Park has been downgraded. The blame has been put on the City of Winnipeg slow walking zoning, the rising costs of construction and fewer multi-unit housing starts planned. Some of this is true but it is also true that Polo Park has had continuous upgrades from Sears to Zellers and has still has The Bay to deal with. Each projects takes time and millions.

There was a mad rush to get the arena and the stadium down and street improvements made. An urgency was presented for the speed of the work. The airport zoning was changed years ago. If we are to believe the news now, there was only a tiny window about 10 years ago or so and now it is gone. 

The truth is probably more in the middle. The two developers had amassed a huge 84 acres but the so-called delay they describe around 2020 was already in the middle of Covid. The site has already lost to the Seasons of Tuxedo site a huge amount of retail, hotels, commercial buildings and entertainment. In the race to develop, Seasons was way ahead. And there was not much room for a whole new outlet mall.

Now, it may be the Kapyong Barracks time although is likely to be piece by piece. Hoarding an 84 acre site when both Shindico and Cadillac Fairview have their own projects and competitors nipping at their heels. Holding onto land another decade probably seems like a costly thing to keep on the balance sheet. What they originally thought was that was the whole site would be built in steady phases and that they would be collecting ever rising rent over the years. 

There is no doubt that some other businesses would build in a red hot minutes if they could both own and operate the near Polo Park. Hence, the word hoarding is used in this case. No one was buying what these two companies were selling. They were trying to build luxury, high end rental property thinking it would sell like a hotcakes. It wasn't. The endless empty parking lots with shiny new roads all around is an indication of that. And like so many projects, bait a switch. A rush to approve demolition and then no start to construction.

Hopefully, the sale will reveal who is serious about getting stuff built. The city can help get stuff built with the shovel ready program. The luxury stuff can be handled by the developers themselves. The government can focus on support for lower income units and residents who need support directly.  Helping to pay for shopping centers isn't needed.

It isn't likely we see anything soon on Polo Park. Cadillac Fairview and Shindico have a lot of projects on the go. Other companies can carry the football over the line now. It's time for big corporations and government to get out of the way. And in some circumstances, the public who can make outrageous demands on height restrictions, density or design even when buildings are outside their area. The desire to control things reminds me of the time Linden Woods had a petition against The Keg building across Waverley many years ago because the smell of steaks might drive dogs nuts. The citizens won.

There is no doubt that several different restaurant groups might be interested in having an establishment at Polo Park. Cactus Club, Milestone's and others have considered expanding into Winnipeg but a site next to a major attraction like the arena or Polo Park has been considered key. Several American companies like Shake Shack have been looking to expand to Winnipeg.

As far as apartments, there are several assisted living companies looking for space and Polo Park would seem to fit the bill. However, they might not have had room with the large developers who often want to do the work in-house or whose cut was just too big to make viable. Land hoarding is done by both private and public organizations. And the land around Polo Park has been hoarded for a long time with no results. Waiting for the maximum sales value has meant empty parking lots.

It seems the mad rush to clear out the stadium and arena for something better will take more time. It won't be the first time or the last that the city has been told by a developer to demolish things only to slick back into the sidelines and blame the city for not moving even faster. In the end, the sale off could a very good thing. What once was a warehousing area and manufacturing sector is being populated by hotels and specialized retail. And now more people might actually be able to live in the area.

Polo Park isn't about to become a declining area. Millions are being spent on the mall and surrounding areas. I expect security and policing to be a major issue this year so expect a big boost in those areas. If Polo Park declines then the whole city is likely in crisis. That doesn't seem likely. The prospect and new enthusiastic developers for the site will be welcome.

Sunrise Records Kildonan Place to Close

Kildonan has been on a relentless transformation over the last 15 years as major anchors have closed and they try to find new ones and upgrade to new attractions. After grocery and theatre upgrades, the last area is the food court. And with that has come a lot of moves and closures to accommodate the change.

By all rights, record stores should be dead. But they refuse to be in Canada. Sunrise Records is the descendent of HMV Records and seems to be doing well even in 2026. It can be a tough time for legacy stores of 30 or 40 years vintage. Warehouse, based in Winnipeg and across the country is being liquidated along with sister company Bootlegger. It seems unlikely they survive in any form but who knows. Toys R Us is also in final stages of closure. 

Sunrise Records will be around but the days of a record store at Kildonan Place appear to be over for now. It has had a number of record stores in it since its founding. And there could be one day in the future where one might return.

The overall health of the malls in Winnipeg appears to be good despite the closure of The Bay which still leave space to filled at Polo Park and St. Vital. There have been a few incidents at Kildonan and other major malls but overall security is responsive and there are no large vacancy rates that can be seen all over the U.S.

Generation Z seems to be helping a revival of malls but it isn't entirely clear if they are buying old fashioned records. If they are, then maybe see a return of a record store in the future at Kildonan.

Another 7-Eleven in Winnipeg Closes 2026

After an indication that 7-Eleven was looking to expand in Winnipeg, another store at 1871 Main Street has closed. It has opened a huge debate in the city. Some are arguing this is just corporate downsizing the company is doing all over North America. It is true. The 7-Eleven owners in Japan fended off Circle K's takeover bid and now shareholders are looking for profitability in the shares.

Circle K has easily been more valuable as a stock whatever people's feeling are on where it it ranks as a convenience store. 7-Eleven in Canada is often in the same locations it has been since the 1970s. Some of these locations are small, in need of physical updates, owned by third parties who sometimes have other plans for the site and some have parking spaces that are too few when shared with other tenants. Not every store closure is about retail theft.

Having said that, store theft is out of control and not just at convenience stores. It is everywhere. It is becoming more brazen and sometimes includes violence. To most citizens it seems to happen with impunity. Someone picked up by the police is often released and back at it again. It is like to repeated drunk drive who is released and even when their license is taken away, does it again and again till someone if hurt.

The rate of theft post pandemic has risen dramatically. It is concurrent with poverty levels, addictions and mental health issues and homelessness. It is likely that those areas will take time and effort and many years to overcome. Only disaster or war comes close to the devastation wrought on so many over a widespread area. And like post-WWII, only a national plan focused on the displaced will come close to ending it.

Some crime numbers have dropped over the years, even in cities. In some rural areas, they have dropped to historic lows. Hard as it is to believe, there was more violence years past. What has really taken off is property crime and store theft. Even 7-Eleven with industry leading security has not been able to withstand the theft in their stores. No store can really. Despite claims by some that this is just corporate chicanery, most realistic observers have seen the helplessness of clerks and cashiers as people walk out laden with loot. Whatever sympathy for those who might by doing this is lost when yet another store closes or a clerk hurt by those in a rush to get out. 

Those who believe that any and all business is bad will not care about a 7-Eleven closing. Some seemed to think it impeded small independent stores. This, however, ignore the fact that 7-Eleven innovated in Manitoba by being open 24 hours, seven days a week against forces that wanted them closed before 11, on Sundays and holidays. No store that was family owned was challenging that. Only those who have never had a need overnight or holiday thinks stores closed when you need a tin a cat food for a cat who is in full hunger yowl think this was great times.

Convenience stores have continued to be under full assault. In some neighbourhoods, it has only gotten worse. If 7-Eleven intends on expanding via franchising in Winnipeg, it is likely not going to do it in areas that they abandoned unless there was a dramatic turn in shoplifting. While the police have made some key arrests, the proliferation of crime has been only overcome when with drastic security measures such as ID entry only for  entrance.  The most we have seen from grocery stores is the closure of second entrances all over Winnipeg starting around Covid.

It is unlikely that 7-Eleven would only allow entry via being buzzed in. That would entail a whole bunch of people who are banned from entering a whole bunch a businesses. In many parts of the U.S., 24 hour stores lock their doors and only serve through a slot in the front. In the past, they used to have the cashier locked in a booth but that doesn't protect the items in the store. In fact the booth sometimes didn't protect the occupant inside.

Some point to the hands off approach inside stores that was adopted to stop employees or customers from being hurt and liability. In Winnipeg, there have been a number of court cases where employees and owners and have tried to stop theft resulting in injury. On the side of the ledger, there have been employees injured and sexually assaulted even when they did nothing. Just this week a worker at a cannabis store was not only robbed but sexually assaulted.

Despite all that has been happening, there have been a number of convenience stores opening in the city, including downtown. Property crime has been around as long as human have been around. There is a reason keys and locks were invented so very long ago. 

It is unknown whether any retail will ever go in the 7-Elevens that are closed around the city. At least not for a while. I'm sure the owners would gladly sell to a convenience store if they dared to open there. The truth is between break and entering and store theft, it could be some neighbourhoods just won't have any commercial businesses willing to move into the area.

The trend of store theft is world-wide. Winnipeg isn't just the special case. Having said that, the only way to reduce the issue is to keep focusing on making it difficult for break and enters, store thefts and the like to happen. Some states are making an aggregate of $5000 over 180 days the marker for jail time. That alone won't do it but a few measures to avoid the non-stop revolving door would be meaningful. Meanwhile, 7-Elevens and other stores will close.