Red River Co-Op to Move Into Portage Place

The signage has gone up and the parties have confirmed it. Portage Place will have a ground floor grocery and a pharmacy. That store will be Red River Co-Op. At 22,500 square foot store and a 6,500 square foot pharmacy and a staff of 57. This will be the 10th store in the Winnipeg region for the Co-Op. The timing of the opening is 2029. Construction has been ongoing all this year and the building of the Pan Am Clinic is the first priority. 

The Bay is also under intense construction and there hasn't be an update on where they are at but it is ongoing. Housing and offices will eventually be in place there and nearby and the need for the grocery store will be apparent. Initial response that a Red River Co-Op going is has been positive. There are five national grocers with their huge suppliers. It was thought that a Sobeys/Safeway had the inside track. However, the Co-Op is local and likely pushed hard to expand their store size after a near death experience back in 1983. The entire grocery business was shut down along with anything not related to fuel sales. It was a painful recovery.

Munther Zeid from Foodfare questioned the economic reasons and said if there was a market for grocery, Safeway or Safe on Foods would have moved in. He has a point save for one thing. Grocery store size. The companies he mentions builds new stores that are 40,000 square feet. The South Osborne Safeway has a legacy store at 19,000 square feet. It is hanging on because it has no competition and a parking lot.

None of the biggies want a store with no dedicated parking lot. So why does Red River think they can do it? The pharmacy. There are only a handful of pharmacies downtown even with a few thousand residents living nearby. The few Shoppers and Rexall are all south of Portage Avenue. Red River Co-Op notably kept their pharmacy as a stand alone location on Main when Giant Tiger took over their lease (which they have since abandoned) on Main Street. Pharmacies make money. And they are built with layered security everywhere. 

Know what Foodfares don't have? Pharmacies. Zeid knows groceries better than anyone. He has been on the frontline for decades and fighting shoplifting harder than anyone. He knows what he talks about when it comes to trying to make a living in the grocery business. The pharmacy and its safes and locked areas is a good cushion for profitability. Thousands of students at the University of Winnipeg, student housing across the street by the Winnipeg Art Gallery, housing behind Portage Place and new housing onsite atop Portage Place provides the population base to build a store customer base. 

The lack of a food court in Portage Place should discourage the type of congregating for the purpose of drug distribution. And thousands of patients a day at the new Pam Am Clinic should create the safety of crowds that is seen when hockey and concert events happen downtown. Harassment of people will have dozens of people calling 911 and filming it. Likewise, True North properties have zero tolerance for encampments or people taking up residence of doorways. Seriously. Watch security make themselves present if people linger in the Square for purposes other than commuting or commerce. Also, get in a fracas at Canada Life Centre, find yourself banned for life from all events there. Malls like Polo Park also institute bans so I expect to see Portage Place ban people from the property if they are violent or shoplifting. Technology will be used to identify people who are consistently a problem.

Low income people have to be protected and the work with the community patrols will help with people who need assistance. Housing geared to income is part of what is going up in the area but success with come from a mix of people which could include tourists in hotels, visitors for concerts, conventions and sports. 

In keeping with the standard set ups for most urban groceries, there will be one entrance in, delivery, deli, bakery, meat, dairy and produce sections. If there is any area I feel they might skimp on, I would say sections of ethnic and specialty stuff. This probably suits some of the ethnic convenience stores that have tried to carve out new niche areas for themselves downtown and elsewhere. Self checkouts are likely to have two forms of control. The first will be scanner exiting the checkout and the next will be receipt control. It is unclear whether the store will exit to the front street or inside the mall. Staples found it was better inside. One thing is clear is that there will be another line of security for the mall and apartment entrances. And street patrols will be plainly visible.

Things have to be a multi-pronged approach to make the area successful for housing, retail, recreation and healthcare. If people feel there are no go zones where they could face danger, they will resist going there. In some cases though, you will have no choice. If you have a knee surgery at Pan Am, you will be there are 8 AM. Likewise, many people work downtown and not some suburb. They need to know they can ride the bus without fear, park their cars and find them later and go outside for lunch without the chance of homicide or being swept up in arrest.

I suspect there will be a lot ways this happens and it will be black by block that are reclaimed as neighbourhoods. A grocery is essential to that and the amount of spending to convert Portage Place and the former Bay building tops $1 billion. This isn't just a luxury mall and luxury housing. It is a comprehensive reconstruction and not a trip down nostalgia lane. It is trying to build housing in the area and make sure there are services to support it. The mistake at Portage Place is the investment stopped after the 1980s. The money earned was delivered to The Forks for their ultimate success.

The Restaurants in Marcello's Old Hydro Location

Covid hurt businesses associated with office workers. The Manitoba Hydro building with between 1800-1900 employees went on remote work and even today, still has workers at home part of the week. It can be pretty stark when people are not at headquarters. In better times, the first floor which includes a bank, Rudy's Restaurant and up till the pandemic, Marcello's Market and Deli.

The empty streets in downtown hurt a lot of businesses. Marcello's was not able to survive in such a large space. The Ottawa-based restaurant group still operates in Winnipeg but in a smaller space in the Richardson Concourse. The Hydro site was a huge space of 3,500 square feet and in need of a customer base. Returning workers represented that boost but it has been a chicken and the egg thing. Restaurants won't return if there are customers and employees are reluctant to go back to the office if there are no amenities.

Manitoba's Hydro's move to the downtown might have been as a result of Glen Murray's exacting a price for the sale of Winnipeg Hydro, but the company has used the space in their building for political debates, fashion shows, banking services and food halls and restaurants. The empty Marcello's spot was an impediment to serving Hydro employees and the public at large.

With that mind, Hydro sought out established downtown Winnipeg businesses with the draw being a food hall with 60 seats and a large potential customer base. To that end, Hydro reached out to Baglesmith which agreed to relocate from their other downtown location. The owner of Bagelsmith also brought their other restaurants Super Slice to the space. In the past days, people have been trying out their celebrity pizzas including one named after Betty White.

The other two restaurants added to the food hall is a Asian place called the Greenish and a coffee spot Colosimo Coffee Roasters. The food hall will be collectively known as Café 360. For the various owners operating in the space, they are no stranger to downtown, the common comment they have meant that there is a sense of security being in the building. The Manitoba Hydro building, like the food hall in True North Square, have security guards.

The arsons and protection rackets have had businesses rattled. Add to that the changes in bus routing, businesses are looking for safer options. Locating inside a building with a shared space, security and hours that end at 4 pm probably is very attractive. The complete makeover of Portage Place next door will bring a raft of potential customers when the Pam Am Clinic is complete in 2026. It is estimated that nearly 7000 people a day will be using the clinic's services.

A lot of downtown projects will be complete in 2026 and security is playing a strong role in their success. No one does anything in True North Square because even loitering will bring out security to escort you away. Mess around in the arena or the convention centre and that will result in a permanent ban from every sports event, concert or convention. The power of that punishment can have a lasting effect. Real consequences for violent or disturbing acts. It happens in every mall in the city. 

So while those inside the new Café 360 will feel safe, more will have to happen outside the building for people to feel secure. Restaurants every week are being targeted for arsons. We have never seen such a concerted effort to burn them down. There is likely video of a particular suspect involved in multiple locations but any place that doesn't have onsite security, is in jeopardy. The Manitoba Hydro building has such security in it and around it and any attempts of harm there are likely to have a response in seconds. 

Café 160 will be a welcome addition to Portage Avenue and will attract people from beyond Manitoba Hydro. The only way to bring vitality and safety back to the area is one building at a time and one street at a time. The places downtown that people feel most secure are the ones that draw many people and security is clearly visible. Food halls have proven to be a favourite for many. 

The Out of Town Visitor to Jets Fan Experience

 

Once again an influencer has come in to town to see the Winnipeg Jets and offer commentary on the city and its offerings when it comes to the fan experience. I won't post his links here but for those interested, it was in regards to the team playing Buffalo Sabres. The game was a loss and the crowd was not at their most animated. It happens. A dull, cold day and an afternoon game on a Sunday is more likely to attract young families, especially for last place Sabres.

Jets were ripe for the picking with some of the Winnipeg players on Sabres having great games. Good for those guys. As for Jets, the first place team is still pushing to stay on top and go to the playoffs all the way. It has drawn notice from hockey and sports fans all over North America. Some of them have come all the way to the city to experience the team. And in some cases rip the city for even having a team.

This is what happened with the vlogger who visited the city for three days and questions why the NHL ever gave Winnipeg a team. To put it bluntly, the Jets got a team because Atlanta Thrashers was just not able to succeed despite a small passionate fanbase. With only one playoff run, the Thrashers struggled and not even first round picks, big acquisitions and patience from the NHL was able to change that. Winnipeg got the team because they built a new arena, had an ownership group and ready to bail out the league if a franchise was about to go. 

The Thrashers team that Winnipeg got was a one line team with literally not much in draft and development. None of the coaching staff moved over. And yet overjoyed Winnipeg fans bought all the tickets and provided years of waiting lists. I think it is quite undeniable that the Jets have built one of the strongest franchises today for draft and development, coaching and player enrichment. They have frequently updated their facility and added the iceplex and have done much to improve the fan experience around the arena.

The ownership of the Winnipeg Jets is held by the Chipman and Thomson family. The Chipmans, known for the Birchwood Auto Group, and the Thomsons, known for Reuters. David Thomson is thought to be richest owner in the NHL. He came to be owner after a long business association with Winnipeg as owner of the Free Press and CKRC. He was also a long time fan of the Jets.

The Jets ownership, management and facility are not in question. Could the arena be bigger? Sure. It has been expanded as much as it can be in its present form. It has three professional teams that use it and has a full concert docket. It is a moneymaker. Jets owners have also purchased the Burton Cummings Theatre to help manage its concerts and event business. They have built real estate investments around the arena to enhance the entertainment district.

It is important to keep in mind that the Jets are just part of the overall business. The Manitoba Moose and owning the Canada Life Centre contribute to the True North bottom line. Rental of arena to the Winnipeg Sea Bears and concerts help pay for overall operations. Moreover, the Jets have bought Portage Place and the $3 million a year in that parkade money is now in True North's hands. The Hockey for All Centre iceplex in Headingley serves as the practice facility for the Jets and Moose and is the central tournament spot for amateur hockey in Manitoba.

Sales of tickets were up 12% as of January for Jets. Corporate sales have also gone up and it has been a focus for the True North Entertainment group since fall. Millions have been spent to enhance fan experience and most visitors to the arena usually remark at how engaged the fans are. For this year, it might in playoffs where it is most important for the Jets organization to not only fill the arena but the streets. The economic benefits of the playoffs are enormous and the good wills and community engagement is what the team can build on and for the city to prosper.

The Jets have acknowledged they need more corporate sales. How they do a re-set is something that will have to evolve. The are many companies in Manitoba and some will have to be won over again or for the first time. In other words, corporate sales are not just about what is good for the Jets but what is good for the companies. And to thread the needle, the team can't lose the enthusiastic crowd for corporate seats where people don't show up. They need to make going to the Jets as vital to regular season tickets holders as it is to companies.

One accusation about Leafs playoffs is that the regular season ticket holders can't afford the corporate price of their seats later on. And the people who can get those seats just don't respond like the fans who were there for 41 regular season games. Thankfully, that hasn't been what is seen in Jets games. That is sometimes the trade-off that seats are sold out but passionate fans are fewer. It isn't always the case but happens often enough to be commented on.

A few sports operations have reported that the attractiveness of box seats has lessened while corporate meeting rooms at sports facilities has increased. If this true, we might see a reduction in box seats as we presently have within the arena. Apparently, Toronto has started creating more business meeting spaces for Leafs games. I assume regular bowl seats suffice if there is a meeting room before, during and after the game.

Most out of town fans to the Jets come to Winnipeg from all over Manitoba, Northwest Ontario and sometimes Saskatchewan. The rare guests come from elsewhere in Canada or international. Those that travel to Winnipeg for a game are often coming for shopping, visiting family and going out to restaurants. At the old Winnipeg Arena, people used to stay at the Viscount Gort or the Polo Park Inn (later Canad Inns Polo Park). At the Viscount it was possible that visiting fans would run into the visiting team staying in the same hotel.

Today, it is not much different and out of town fans stay in their favourite hotels based on their shopping and entertainment needs. Some will stay where they have always stayed near Polo Park for water slides or for familiar hotels. Others have been staying at downtown hotels even if the shopping is elsewhere. In some ways, the old Polo Park location was already a hugely successful entertainment area. The 20 year old arena downtown is slowly building up to become an entertainment area.

Like most developments in Winnipeg, the entertainment district is years behind schedule. The discussion over the slow pace of Sutton Place Hotel has been made on this blog. It does appear that the speed should increase but it has been 8 years of waiting so far for the hotel and the restaurants that come with it such as Chop. In the good news category, The Keg is building a large restaurant at St. Mary and Donald, kitty corner to Cityplace and the Canada Life Centre. Once Chop goes up, there will be four steakhouses within walking distance of the arena.

A number of restaurants have opened in the Exchange and in Osborne Village which is an indication that restaurants are slowly coming back after the loss of so many over the last five years. Recovery downtown is much slower but the True North development of Portage Place and the new Pan Am Clinic will mean thousands of people in the area seven days a week. Expect some coffee shops, breakfast places and other restaurants to crop up around the area as the food court will be eliminated for the clinic.

It is expected the Portage Place and even further down the street Bay development will proceed faster than other projects. That is good because they have had several years of stalled work between the Canada Life Centre and RBC Convention Centre has been inconvenient and contributes to a sense of no life around the arena. The road is always an obstacle course and year after year of nothing. The moment it opens it will transform the area.

However, returning to the question of why Winnipeg has an NHL franchise. It has a a franchise because despite being a small market, it has a better facility than many other cities in the NHL. It has a richer and more stable ownership than most in the NHL. It has a very good management team that has been able draft and develop players which is what Atlanta was great at. It has owners trying to create a fan experience inside and outside the arena area. It has a good TV and radio broadcast team. It has good print coverage and a fair size podcasting coverage. It has a new strategy to increase corporate sales.

The Jets are number 1 in the league and some people keep thinking the team should be moved. It isn't going anywhere when the league has so many franchises that could be in need before the Jets are. Even the New Your Rangers could be moving to a new facility across the street. The Calgary Flames are in the process of building a new arena but the city of Calgary owns it. Salt Lake City has an old arena and no immediate plans to build a new one. Jets have one of the newer arenas with the only criticism that is should have 3000 more seats. I imagine the Jets have a soon to be announced plan for arena expansion or a second arena. The reason is that the city would like to have a women's pro hockey team, a women's pro basketball team and possibly, a WHL team. Can't very well do that with one arena.

So to those who wonder why Winnipeg has a franchise, it is because they are building an organization to that. And that will mean we'll see the fan experience from NHL to concerts become more important for putting fans in the seats. And for the out of towers, we have to make it is the best experience we can.

Portage Place Upgrade Gets the Go Ahead

Portage Place was originally built for $80 million in 1987 which is about $160 million in today's terms. It wasn't the only project on North Portage. Investors Group, Air Canada, Relax Hotel (Holiday Inn) and several apartments also went up. Some of those developments continue to exist today and are successful. However, the mall like much of downtown shopping suffered. Polo Park doubled in size around the same year. Eaton Place and Winnipeg Square were built less than ten years earlier. In short, Winnipeg was over-malled and the suburbs won the battle. Well, almost. Unicity failed before Portage Place.

The just under 1000 car parkade was the jewel under Portage Place. Generating millions in profit each year, it kept The Forks afloat from 1994 on. Cadillac Fairview and successor companies never owned the parkade. If they had, things might have been different. However, it is possible they might have just sold it as the downtown Bay sold theirs to make quick cash. The Forks North Portage Partnership on behalf of the three levels of government receives the parkade's profits. And those have all gone to The Forks since 1994.

 It is worth a passing thought to think what $3 or $4 million a year from the lot might have done for north Portage. It is likely though The Forks would have gone bankrupt. Today it is in much healthier shape. And the sale of the parkade to Truth North will result in a possible windfall of cash to The Forks to the tune of $35 million. On the profits generated by the parkade alone and the usefulness to Jets' owners, the deal will certainly generate cash. The millions spent by event parking that didn't go to the arena will now go to the arena.

Some critics are withering about anything going up downtown. Some says they haven't been for years. That is entirely possible for those who don't go to concerts, conventions, theatre, hockey, basketball, work or The Forks. Perhaps they live and work in the suburbs or just out of town. However, the downtown is where all three levels of government are located. The reason they are there is convenience for the services they provide and for the amount of workers needed.

The Chipman and Thomson families who own the Jets have been doing their part to make downtown dynamic. It has been a building block process. First it was to redevelop the old Eaton's site and move the AHL Moose to the building. Then it was to bring the Jets in. A exhibition hall was next and then a redevelopment of the block across the street with a combination of parkade, Alt Hotel, restaurants, condo and offices. Then it was True North Square and several office towers, residential units and hotel. In just over 20 years hundreds of millions has been spent and has transformed the arena district.

Portage Place will easily be the biggest redevelopment downtown since True North arena was built in the early 2000s. It will have multiple partners in all levels of government, True North, Southern Chiefs Organization and Pan Am Clinic. For those who say they will not ever go downtown, they certainly will go if that is where their knee surgery will be. 

For the next 35 years, the Pam Am Clinic will be on east side of the former mall and take over the space that was the food court and movie theatres. It will be 12 storey centre of excellence for surgery. It will occupy 265,000 square feet. By comparison, the present location by the Pam Am Pool is 72,000 square feet. By any measure this a massive expansion to help bring down waiting times for healthcare. The present Diamond Athletics is 10,000 square feet and will be moving as well. Presumably, they will also increase in size.

On the west side of the former mall will be a 13 storey apartment that will be a partnership of Chipman/Thomson and Southern Chiefs Organization. Affordable units will be part of the building. There will be 200 units built with about 40 per cent allotted lower income. The skywalk will remain connected throughout including to the former Bay. The Southern Chiefs Organization has a budget of about $130 million for that building alone which will also include housing.

As for the rest of the mall, it was revealed a grocery store has signed a letter of intent for about 19,000 square feet. Other mall residents such as Prairie Theatre Exchange are expected to stay. However, actual plans and tenants have not yet been revealed. Work is set to begin in 2025 and be complete by 2028.

For the first time 100% of Portage Place, the parkade and additional buildings will be owned locally by one group but in partnership with several other groups. Long tern planning is already part of the core mission of the facility. A health centre that is needed and wanted is key to people coming there every day of the week.

Mixed developments are central to long lasting success. Portage Place was simply too much retail and not enough street presence. It turned its back on the street and in many ways, turned away from ground floor in favour of the skywalks. As seen in the above picture, the new Pam Clinic will have a street presence. There has to be handicapped access and pick up/drop off spots out front. You simply can't have a surgical center with no road access. For this reason Edmonton will go through where the escalators and clock are now to connect Portage and Ellice.

There appears to be a few park-like areas in front of the new Pan Am entrance and around the new mall entrance. Without a doubt there will be high security to keep the area from becoming like the pocket park of Air Canada in terms of an encampment and more like what True North Square is. That is to say the park will be there for citizens to use but not to take up residence in. There will be simply be too many people going in and out of what is essentially a hospital.

There are around 80 encampments around the city now. It is important that more is done to find people housing, treatment and not have more areas become permanent outdoor settlements. Certainly it would appear the goal of True North and Southern Chiefs Organization is to build affordable housing. Many people this winter could suffer if it is colder and snowier than past years. Living on the street or the river is dangerous.

There are a lot of moving parts to Portage Place but working with The Bay conversion by Southern Chiefs, it is a near $1 billion amount of work. The inclusion of health and housing ensures vitality seven days a week. This was always a flaw of the old mall. Evenings and weekends were not strong. There was just not enough people living in the area.

In recent years around the Art Gallery, there has been a number of apartments built, same for Truth North Square and along Portage Avenue. In the past week, there have been several apartment projects in the downtown approved to begin immediately. There are more coming next year and possibly in years after even with a federal change of government.

The truth is that there can't be any ten years or more breaks where literally nothing is getting built. And that is what has been happening in Winnipeg and longer at times. The hoarding of land for parking spaces have left large areas under utilized. Downtown has football fields of space, some of which has not seen a return of traffic since the end of the pandemic. Shopping malls are coming to the conclusion that too much of their lots are not being used regularly. Space is being converted to other uses including apartments.

The initial Portage Place mall attracted tens of millions of other investment. It is likely the new initiative will do the same. Still, it will take three years to see much of this come to pass. By then, perhaps, True North's Sutton Place Hotel and Suites will be complete as the need for additional hotels downtown has grown. It often takes a very long time to get shovels in the ground.

Still, this new project is a step in the right direction and a great improvement on past proposals. No one development alone with save the downtown but, like The Forks, step by step action will make that area a vital component if rejuvenation.

Portage Place 2024- The True North/SCO Proposal

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,

Jets Season Tickets Are Down - Will They Leave?

Gary Bettman has always had a contentious relationship with Winnipeg. It broke our hearts when the original Jets team moved south. The city survived it but the 1990s are were a hard time and it took several years for the people to feel we were making progress on a fairly hard 1990s,

It seemed not enough was done to save the Winnipeg Jets when they moved to Arizona. Some of the changes the league made with better supports for expansion teams and salary caps came after the team left. The fan base here gave the Jets years and years of sellouts but it came inside the smallest arena in the league. And all the while, the team got the smallest corporate support. For a long time, that was enough. But now, there is no waiting list.

The value of the franchise has risen dramatically since the days of the Atlanta Thrashers. And for the True North real estate division, the Jets and the arena have been part a building strategy that revolves around True North Square. Were it not for the slow build of Sutton Place Hotel and Suites, the Chipmans might have been said to have brought that project to completion. As it is, they will probably be making their announcement on Portage Place soon which should have some goodies in there if the Pan Am Clinic tower, a grocery store and University of Winnipeg residential tower is included.

Those are all things that indicate a NHL owner is determined to stay. Moving the team would de-value all the other assets that have been built up around the arena and the team. The arrival of Bettman was more a promotional visit than one full of threat and menace. He is well aware that moving teams means less chance of expansion money that the whole league shares. It isn't good for the league at all.

The fact that the NHL seemed relatively calm about the whole thing feels more reassuring. It is also good that Chipman seems to know that the Jets have to market themselves better. Finding out why season ticket holders have left and addressing their concerns is important. Most say they want more flexibility on their tickets and less added costs and hassles. Other are asking for better food, more tiered priced and value prices.

Some fans have said they wish there was more food options outside the arena. Some restaurants have closed such as Pony Coral and Moxies that were faves. A new Keg that was going up is now stalled and likely won't be built. Chop is a year or two away. A lot of things seem to be a year or two away. The Chipmans can only control what happens in their buildings. To that end, the Hargrave Food Market has been a big plus. If the Chipmans control Portage Place, we could see a return of Moxies and new restaurants as the mall will cease to exist as we now know. This is true for the food court as well.

As far as the product goes on the ice, the Jets have made the player changes and performed amazingly well. Will it gain the excitement that occurred in 2018? It is possible but there were a lot more people working downtown back then compared to now. However, there are a lot more people living downtown too with apartments along Assiniboine, Main and other conversions that have happened since then. It is a slow process but more housing has gone up along west Broadway as well as the art gallery area.

The Bay will start seeing some work on the outside in weeks. Raising the level of activity in this end of downtown and adding some food options can only help the Jets and any other business in the area. A darkened building is toxic to an area. Large areas of downtown parking spaces may be good for parking for arena events but it also means no street life of restaurants, shops or downtown residential units. 

The Jets record is probably the biggest ingredient for filling seats for the rest of this year. The next year and after will be about the Jets trying to create more excitement, more fan and season ticket support, more corporate partnerships and less hassle about making changes to tickets. Will the Jets leave? If they respond positively to what fans want and are innovative, they will manage to overcome what happens to almost every team in the league at some point. The result will be a team that will be continue long into the future and then the question might be: Do they need to expand the building?

The Portage Place Proposal

The ideas presented by True North and Architecture49 for Portage Place in this series of pictures is a far better proposal than we have seen from developers thus far. The cost is estimated to be about $500 million and there will be a taxpayer component for some aspects of it. A 15 storey health tower will be built on the western pad. The foodcourt will give way to a first floor of elevator banks and possibly a walk-in clinic and primary care clinics with extended hours. The second floor will remain a main corridor in the skywalk system to connect the arena, the former Bay Building as well as Investors Group.

It is noteworthy that the Pan Am Clinic is involved. Prior to the pandemic they had made arrangements to build a facility on the old mini-golf course adjacent to to the Reh Fit Centre. A bit of a coming home for them as they started way back decades ago in the building. Alas, as soon as it was announced, a panic ensued as the underpass at Waverley which had been cancelled since 1984 Mulroney was finally approved. The Pan Am was cancelled. And thereafter, their onsite physio had to move for lack of space at the clinic. They have been over capacity ever since.

To say the Pan Am Clinic has been waiting patiently ever since is an understatement. The parking lot behind the Pan Am Pool is filled daily with those attending appointments or being told walk-ins are filled by the first hour. A 15 storey Pan Am tower for an Advanced Musculoskeletal Medicine sounds like the they type of  innovative centre that downtown used to be known for. The Boyd Building, Medical Arts Building and the Winnipeg Clinic were where people went for the specialist appointments. Most are closed or downsized from their one prominent position in the city.

Some new suburban offices have opened for doctors but the Pan Am Clinic is in need of space for diagnostic equipment, surgical suites and space for a growing demand in treatment of pain and therapeutic and surgical treatment. It is a long time coming. There appears to be a pick up and loading area for the clinic but better pictures are needed to see if it is adequate. Edmonton itself appears to be a through street although it isn't entirely clear if it is only for pedestrians or one where vehicles can use even in a limited way.

The first floor that has today's present food court appears to be all clinic space. The above floors will have 50,000 square feet of ambulatory and orthopedic surgery space. A concussion clinic is set to operate on on site and a 26,000 square foot dialysis space will be set up. The latter has been desperately needed. Altogether, this is 220,000 square feet of health space and a $300 million investment. 

The above alone would be a huge deal. It is worth pointing out that many cities across North America have hospitals in their downtown areas. Health Sciences Centre is not downtown. Nor is St. Boniface Hospital. Look at Toronto or Saskatoon to see hospital districts. They are 24 hour drivers of social, health and economic opportunity. I sometimes wonder if Health Sciences Centre blocks away from downtown would have been better closer in. As it stands now, we'll never know. For St. Boniface, it is close by but better for the core district surrounding the commercial neighbourhood of the French Quarter rather than downtown.

The Access Clinic on Main Street with its parkade was a multi-million investment in health north of City Hall. However, street friendly, it isn't. It is closed at 4:30 PM every day and closed weekends. Heroic work might be done inside but it is unlikely a single business, restaurant or residential building benefits in ways that St. Boniface Hospital benefits its district or Health Sciences does for its area (although in recent years that part of the city has gone through difficulties).

It is without doubt that a downtown Pan Am Clinic along with primary care and dialysis treatment will be utilized and see many people use the facility. And with 1000 car parking space below, parking should not be considered an issue. However, the foodcourt and some retail, services and the old theatres will make way for this development. Public input is ongoing. It is uncertain what the reaction will be to the loss of the foodcourt as it presently stands will be. Many in the community are attached to it as a place to sit and gather. Some indigenous groups had wanted the mall turned over to them as a community spot. Still, this has to be weighed against the advantage of primary care, addictions care and dialysis in one spot. All of these things are also needed by the downtown community and by indigenous people.

A pocket park along the Edmonton throughway should open up north and south access which could see and increase of people being present. While people could enter and exit via the mall, the north entrance had been the source of security concerns in recent years. With a large health facility present, thousands of people per day from all over the city will be going back and forth. Such is the reputation of the Pan Am Clinic that you if you are in pain, suffering a concussion, you don't care where it is, you care that it is.

As stated, if the only news on Portage Place was this, it would be astounding good news. However, there's more. The western portion of the mall looks to continue hosting long time resident Prairie Theatre Exchange. Manitoba Chamber Orchestra also calls the third floor home. The Expo Live! part which is owned by by True North looks to be making way for a 14,000 square foot grocery to yet be named.

There is no doubt this is good news. Despite what anyone thinks, there are quite a few residential units that have gone up in recent years on north Portage via the University of Winnipeg. There is a lot of housing behind Portage Place and Central Park. And more housing coming atop Portage Place itself and in the Southern Chiefs owned Bay building. 

Some naysayers will talk about grocery stores attracting theft. That happens whether it is in St. Vital, St. James or parts in between. Much like how the liquor stores had to add a layer of security. it could come to that for grocery, pharmacies and the like. I have seen more security guards posted at banks recently all the way out in St. James. Many grocers are going to a single entrance and some sort of gate to cross through. Many have security and police posted. This may be the new normal till we deal with drugs, cost of housing and homelessness.

Regardless, a grocery store is excellent news and the customer base is already in place with so many apartments either connected to the skywalk or walking distance. A 16 storey apartment above the grocery is exactly the type of synergy you need in a mixed development. The other parts of the west side of Portage Place is probably where we will have some discussions. A Service Canada office is in place and should remain a part of the building. What else goes inside should probably be determined by the needs of the people living and working in the area. A Shopper's Drug Mart is there now and still seems a good match. As are many of the cellphone companies operating inside. A new food court seems unlikely a few coffee shops and quick service restaurants seem very likely.

It is unclear what sort of residential units will be going up on the west pad. There was mention of student housing and there is no doubt that downtown has multiple schools that can use it including the University of Winnipeg, Red River Polytech and a host of private colleges. One thing that can be said about schools is that they are great drivers of economic activity. And many choose to be downtown because it makes sense logistically for them to do so.

The University of Winnipeg by the very early 1980s had taken over both it men and women's residences for offices. There was no capital budget, student populations were going up and the feeling was that there was enough apartments and rooms for let near the university. Or that many students lived at home and commuted.  Some of that is true. But a lot of it wasn't. There was inadequate housing for decades and the U of W was suffering for it.

It bears repeating that in 2019, Winnipeg and by extension Manitoba, was doing pretty well. The previous year play-off run by the Winnipeg Jets had brought tens of thousands downtown. Many businesses were in expansion mode, festivals downtown and theatres were running at capacity. By 2020 that all changed with the pandemic. Many small businesses were lost and closed down and others have not recovered due to the continued change in work patterns.

The addition of a medical component and a residential component to Portage Place will make the building busier, less a magnet for trouble, more open with public space and not a three block wall on one of the busiest streets in Winnipeg. The proposal thus far along with upcoming public consultations is the best we have seen. It gives a strong reason to go downtown. If someone needs medical treatment, it is better if it is an all and one place with diagnosis, treatment and doctor and specialist visits. With any luck, we will see a deal complete and work beginning soon.

The Forks Comeback 2023

Early in the new year, The Forks turned around their numbers for people coming the site to pre-pandemic levels. Measured by trackers at entrances and seen in actual numbers at events, January 2023 looked more like January 2019. Space to gather has been a hallmark of The Forks and key events, unique merchants, special food experiences and tourist attractions makes it different from other areas. Crime scares and protests groups have had an impact but renewed security may be helping. Random attacks cannot be dismissed as overreacting. If people are afraid they will stop going to a place. In fact, they will flee. And the recent occurrence of protest groups using The Forks for gatherings can and has resulted in problems. One of the reasons in the past we have not seen this is that the park area has been that it is intensely busy with festivals, concerts and recreation. Hard to have a protest when so many people are there already for other reasons. Usually celebrating.

The Forks has to walk a fine balance. Their next stage of development announced some time this year will probably be some sort of apartments across from the Human Rights Museum. The risk is that new residents take a dislike to some of the long term activities that have existed for decades such as concerts and festivals. Or perhaps new residents ask that the more than the century railway line be moved once apartments are up. It is not beyond the pale. It may be that new residents ask that the skate board park be removed. Certain we know that fireworks will no longer be part of Forks celebrations. Perhaps they will get an order for them to be stopped at Goldeyes Park as well.

Things evolve to be sure. Assiniboine Park no longer has fireworks and the same applies to The Forks. Tens of thousands used to go to both and stay for the fireworks. Arguments can be made about how it scares animals and annoys a great number of people but, in the case of Assiniboine Park, it means they shut down for the night quite early for activities. In recent years there have been calls to end concerts outdoors as well even if they earlier in the day. If The Forks goes down the same route, it is likely most outdoor activities might be limited due to residential complaints, especially at night.

The parkade at Portage Place continues to be cash injection every year at The Forks, They have at least moved to charge for parking that they do have including their own parkade which for the longest time was free. They have also started renewing leases at more market set rates. Local innovation in food, retail and recreation has differentiated it from a regular mall. Returning revenue into improving the area marks it differently as well since the money isn't sent to investors in Toronto.

The recent offer from True North to buy the land lease and parkade along with the mall at Portage Place looks to net The Forks $34.5 million. They have publicly stated that they would put it in savings and use the interest to fund things. Do the government parties have a say on this windfall? That is a lot of unassigned money.

Sustainability is important because after the last sections are developed, it is unrealistic to think that cash injections from three levels of government will come. There are indications that revenue to support the site and the programming therein is a priority.  That comes from charging for parking they have on site, lease money as landlord of the area and site rentals for festivals. Mandate creep could see The Forks tasked to develop other land but we have see what happen from the North Portage experience. The Forks diverts the money to themselves. In a lot of ways, North Portage would have better staying as a separate entity as revenue would have stayed in the area. The Forks, on the other hand, would have gone bankrupt in 1994.

Winnipeg downtown is not the only place trying to pivot during the pandemic for downtown areas. Toronto has found it very painful and the closure of Nordstrom's in Eaton Centre and many other retailer has hit hard. And like a lot of North America, people are slow to return to the office. Nevertheless it is growing and plans are for 100 new condo towers a year for the next ten years. But will people be working in offices or from home? And what will become of downtown office towers and attractions? Or old neighbourhoods? Below is Toronto in 1989.

In the 1980s through 1990s Toronto was like Winnipeg in that it had football fields of parking space and industrial land/rail yards open. Above from Toronto Archives in 1989 is what Toronto looked like. The area in red was the railyards. In 2023, the entire area is filled with offices, condos/apartments and the like. However, the 1990s were marked by a real estate collapse was pretty widespread across Canada including Toronto and Winnipeg. It really is the last years that Toronto residential towers have exploded so that they literally dwarf the five big banks downtown.

Both Toronto and Winnipeg developed their rail yards and in the case of Toronto, their port. It can be argued which did better. I think Winnipeg did better at creating public space and a sense of centrality to the city that Portage and Main lost or never had, Toronto certainly created big sport and convention centre facilities but in all that rail land, where is the great public space? It is all condos now.

Sometimes being about 20 years behind has helped Winnipeg avoid mistakes other urban areas have committed before us. For example, Calgary demolished its warehouse district. Toronto in a rush to fill waterfront area with condos had insiders grab units and the buildings created a wall of glass and concrete from the shore. At The Forks, development has been slow and thoughtful and each piece has been well considered. Once again, it was money from Portage Place that made it possible not too just fill it with condos.

Developers would love to build in The Forks. There are really only two spaces left but is unlikely a large tower or two that will be built because of the scale. Public and political pressures will limit the height and frown on restricted public access. It will more clear what comes soon enough. Presently, the parking lots are revenue generators so The Forks are not in a rush to see them closed for development that could take two to three years. The question of having public parkades below the new development and/or public transit/active transportation is still being discussed. 

The above picture sourced from The Forks. The Human Rights Museum is a national museum next to a national park. The expectation is that the area will always have school buses, public transit and active transportation to it. Accessible parking, loading zones, tourist parking need to be accounted for. When Railside and Parcel 4 are removed, will they have a public component for a tourist/visitor to park, walk through, get a meal and access The Forks attractions be part of the equation?

Picture from Forks documents. The rail line makes for a walled area for the The Forks and Goldeyes Park. The shaded red area is where announcements will be made in due course of what will go up on the surface parking lots. There is certainly enough parking just outside the rail wall. However, it is beyond the mandate of The Forks so matters of security, accessibility and availability end at Main Street. Why this matters is that should be of high concern to The Forks of how people come to The Forks. Do they avoid it because it is too far away, too unsafe, hard for for those with mobility issues? Is it too expensive? No place to bring a tour bus in? A school bus. No place to have buses waiting? The very long term success of The Forks turns on these questions.

Ironically, the other charge in the North Portage Forks mandate, Portage Place might have a more solid future once it is sold and have more opportunities for future public and private investment. The above picture from Forks documents shows the huge area it covers. And yet other parts of downtown are in need of some sort of planning to help with sustainability.  It is a little bit like whack-a-mole. One area of downtown gets attention only for another are to collapse. Recent example, the closure of the The Bay.

The 2023 comeback for The Forks will have to focus on safety with the large numbers of people that come through. This is not just limited to crime but in terms of crowd control, traffic control, water safety and events that are celebrations of community. It would be a shame if the Forks has to shut out mid-evening for events because of noise concerns. As mentioned, fireworks will just continue somewhere else...like Assiniboia Downs. They just won't be accessible to those without a car.

Sometimes your success causes you to cancel things because of neighbourhood rejection. Things like Days of Wine on Roses were cancelled on Corydon and New Year's celebrations in Osborne Village because business and residents reject them. And so the concern at The Forks is that someone says: no more parades. And maybe that happens as people push to make the area less friendly to those outside their region.

There seems some certainty that in 2023/2024/2025, The Forks will have tens of millions from Portage Place sale. And even without much of a coordinated development plan for downtown, there are a number of projects that will all likely be coming on stream at the same time. Expanded hotels, apartment buildings and office towers are going up within blocks of The Forks. This contributes to more people living and working close to the largest green space by the Red River. Moreover, more traffic on riverwalks/sidewalks, skating paths and biking lanes are a reflection of how close some people are to the area. It doesn't make sense if you live in an apartment in St. Boniface a baseball throw away from a festival in The Forks to drive your car less than several minutes away.

If safety and public access to The Forks remain a priority, it can succeed in attracting people and unique stores, restaurants and festivals. The success of the area going forward should trigger further exciting development in nearby opening spaces. Surface parking lots are a poor use of downtown space. This is why True North chose to develop the former Eaton's parking lot into buildings and a square to enhance the value of their entertainment district. There are 200 parking spaces underground which is about the amount that the same amount occupied by the surface lot.

Winnipeg remains a car city but certain neighbourhoods like Osborne, St. Boniface, parts of Henderson and others make it possible to actually walk to a grocer, bank or pharmacy. That is to say, they are closer and easier to step out of your door and walk to than to get in your car and drive. Even in Brightwater, there are plenty of people who are in walking distance of the grocery store and other amenities.

The Forks is many things but it isn't that neighbourhood described above. If people live across from the Human Rights Museum, The Forks Market nearby is not a full grocery, nor pharmacy or local bank. More of the empty spaces near The Forks will have to be filled with such things or residents will have to head out of the area to patronize them. It isn't likely that a large national grocer will be built on the site but numbers of residents spreading out along Waterfront and two apartments built on Main in the last year means means a place like Winnipeg Square might service nearby residents longer hours and offer more grocery items at their Shoppers Drug Mart.

The real test this year for The Forks will be how they handle summer starting in June. There will be many assessing the safety of large festivals, how Canada Day will be celebrated and if protests and rallies become increasingly part of the public space as a substitute for the Legislature. And most importantly, will attractions becomes less public or require a charge, Will their hours be reduced? Will attractions be pushed out? All eyes will be watching on this. The comeback will only become permanent if the vast majority of people believe we all have ownership in the area.

True North Puts Bid in for Portage Place

Well, here we are again. Portage Place has received an offer locally this time from Jets ownership and the True North partnership.  The price had dropped like a stone. Starlight had offered just under $70 million that included the mall, parkade and skywalks. The mall owned by B.C. developer Spruceland Mall Limited Partnership (formerly Peterson Group and Peter Young) was valued around $22.5 million. The parkade and land lease which is owned by Forks North Portage Partnership around $47 million.

True North has bid $34.5 million for parkade and land lease. A separate deal has to be struck for the mall. It appears a number of groups have already signed off on the deal including The Forks, the province and the feds. A number of social agencies have said the deal should be rejected and the negotiations with First Nations and Metis should be begin. However, in two years no one (and that means no one) has actually stepped forward with any type of proposal till now. There have been wish lists but no actual plan.

The True North Real Estate Development is the lead on the proposal and consultations are allotted a 12 month window. Jim Ludlow, president of the company, has talked about deconstructing the mall, opening it up  and have housing as a component.  He says it won't be a mall anymore. Beyond that, I suppose it is anyone's guess what it will all turn out as. The one thing they have managed thus far is offering money and a timetable. The Forks North Portage agency has said there has be a re-evaluation of the monetary value of the site but they haven't released anything.

Social agencies have said the space should be open 24 hours and have laundry, showers and community space. Others have said affordable housing. A group of interested parties listed a number of things they wanted but no budget was given. It is likely they believed the three levels of government were going to hand over $400 million that Starlight wanted. However, if some of the governments balked at supporting that, they're not likely to going to hand two blocks to someone else with no plan in place or organization behind it.

Governments are more likely to back things like the Mclaren's Hotel's $12 million housing project to covert all the hotel's rooms in to 150 tiny homes with more modern amenities and and supports for under $550. Now that is a real project, with real management with real costs and timetable. It saves an old building and puts home pride behind it.

The Bay has a redevelopment plan coming and affordable housing is being supported there. And that truly is indigenous-led. The Metis have their Portage and Main development, a hotel planned and just finished social housing on Main Street. Treaty 1 has major work on the Kayong site. Is there an indigenous group ready to take over Portage Place with so much on the go already? If there are interested parties, maybe we will hear a counteroffer. However, nothing yet.

Criticism of True North simply to dismiss them does not solve the issue of Portage Place. Not at all. It remains for sale. Put up a workable plan. That is the benchmark for anyone and everyone out there. Don't ask for $400 million and not have any idea what you would do with it. Don't think you won't pay the mall owner and the parkade owner and get Portage Place for a $1. Unlike The Bay, the building is not nearly as distressed as the department store was. There is value there and saying it is worthless is dishonest.

A few critics blamed the Jets for gentrifying the area making the downtown too expensive. Some are still upset the Eaton's building was torn down. Some blame capitalism, colonialism and and a host of other things. This all might be true. But it doesn't offer solutions. Making up a shopping list of fixes if the goals are not achievable or sustainable is an exercise in frustration. Asking for housing where there are units with washers/dryers, dishwashers, two bedrooms+, pet friendly with utilities included for $600 a month may not support the maintenance of the building in the future. Just ask Lion's Place. A real plan is needed.

Truth is we need tens of thousands of units built every year for years to come. The best strategy might be to support renters and buyers directly rather than getting into building government structures. We have already seen the University of Winnipeg develop several buildings with market rate and below market rate rents. It has formed a cluster of apartments all around the art gallery and more are coming.

Speed is of the essence. It can take years upon years to get something approved. And people can be very contrarian. Many say they support more housing but not near them. This was from a 2023 poll in Toronto and is reflective of the whole country. Almost every housing project seems to draw a long zoning debate even if it is adding space to your own home. In recent months, density has been considered a threat. Thirty years ago most older neighbourhoods had more people living in them now and were considered good places to live.

Portage Place mall has been in place for 36 years and has had pads atop east and west and no apartments ever built. They money siphoned off to The Forks since 1994 could have made a difference. But then maybe we would be talking about how The Forks went under. Our large downtown has meant focus on developments is ever shifting. A crisis happens in a new place every decade. The development on north Portage had quite a lot of housing built but those final two spaces remained empty. And cash spent on the parking never went to anything else on north Portage. It is easy to see why disdain for the area grew as nothing was ever re-invested.

From the perspective of True North Real Estate, Portage Place represents a distressed asset across from all of of their developments. The most important part of the mall is the 1000 car parkade. Without it, no deal can be made. The parkade is the jewel in the crown. It makes money. It has always made money. It just doesn't have money go to mall owners. That changes if all of Portage Place is owned by one entity instead of several. I have lots of questions about the $34.5 million of the parkade and land rights sale going to The Forks but will save for another post.

The mall itself has little value but it will have to be paid something to the tune of under $20 million. Portage Place has been for sale for years but it does have some fine tenants like Prairie Theatre Exchange and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, dental offices, phone companies, university offices and Expo Live. But there are too many retail vacancies and the food court is considered is struggling as well.

Some people have said they think True North is nuts to buy Portage Place but the money spent can be made back on the parkade alone. Taken from hints from what Jim Ludlow has said, it is very likely the mall will be broken up with Edmonton Street once again passing through to the other side. It won't be a motorway in the traditional sense. Likely, it will be one lane only with wide sidewalks connecting to the Promenade on the other side. A second floor enclosed skywalk will fulfill the government's request to maintain connectivity all the way to The Bay. However, it also is an important link for the True North's arena to have direct connection to the 1000 indoor parking spaces of Portage Place.

The interesting part will be the west portion of Portage Place. It is the widest section, also has a pad for a tower on it and has the walkway that goes all the way to The Bay which should have a plan announced soon. Is that west section big enough for a future arena? Now I know you are saying...hold on, we have an arena. Yes, we do but we also have two hockey teams. And Winnipeg Ice are looking for a new home. Do we also get a lacrosse team? A basketball team? A women's hockey team? Could we be looking at two arenas? Don't rule it out. 

The entire length of Portage Avenue is important to the vitality of downtown. The entire reason for Portage Place's development was that while south Portage Avenue was vital with stores, north Portage was seeing more vacancies and in some cases, one building burned down and wasn't replaced. There were some bright spots to be sure such as Kennedy Street and some specialty shops but no new investments and a few hotels that were particularly rough.

By 1980, Manitoba was in a deep recession. Huge businesses had shut down. The first of tens of thousands of people were leaving the province, moving headquarters, closing factories and production. It was awful. In 1981, the Core Area Initiative was formed as a three levels of government program to cover a huge amount the inner city with a budget of $196 million over ten years. That is $600 million in today's dollars. Led by Lloyd Axworthy from the federal side, this was the creative force behind housing renewal all over the inner city, The Forks, Portage Place, social programming and private investments from Air Canada, Investor's Group, Cadillac Fairview, small businesses everywhere, The program ended in 1991 and by 1994, The Forks was almost bankrupt. 

A new Winnipeg Development Agreement was made from 1996 to 2001 but it was city-wide and did not carry on with nearly as much money. At $75 million, it went fast and when support ended, some projects began to whither just like The Forks did in 1994 without money from some other revenue sources. From 2001 on most city councillors have been focused on massive infrastructure further and further away from centre of the city. 

Places like Portage Place and North Portage have been stuck. The mall owner doesn't want to invest too much because they can't make the margins that other malls make. And since they didn't own the land, there was far fewer reason to change the building to another function. True North has worked on several building projects both north and south of Portage Avenue. They have been working on indigenous partnerships as a business longer than many companies. They have also been able to leverage money from governments for projects and other private businesses have joined in on the efforts.

The last time North Portage was shown some love tens of millions was spent by other businesses and organization. The criticism of the mall ignores the hundreds of housing units built. It ignores the hotel built, Investors Group moving its headquarters there, the Free Press building being restored to government offices, IBM building offices, Winnipeg's first IMAX, Prairie Theatre Exchange and Air Canada offices. 

It is unlikely that True North will abandon if they take the reins. And they certainly won't transfer future revenue to The Forks like what has been happening since 1994. It will be interesting to see what happens from here but these are no carpetbaggers like the last bunch who came to town to fleece the taxpayers. The Chipmans and True North have added considerably to the employment, tax base and downtown since 2011.