Portage and Main 1922

In 1922 streetcars were still main transportation from Portage and Main all the way to Selkirk, Manitoba and to Headingley, Manitoba. They travelled in the two middle lanes. Diagonal parking was permitted on the east side of north Main for cars along banking row. Parallel parking was opposite.

Only one lane of traffic northbound to Higgins. Two lanes travelled southbound. Cars were far fewer in those years when Winnipeg was the fourth largest city in Canada. Vancouver had just surpassed our population in the decade earlier.

Future Winnipeg's needs might still find the wide roads of Winnipeg useful if trams or LRT once again take over the center lanes. Compared to a subway, it may Winnipeg's most viable option for a growing city.

Fionn MacCool's Closed on Regent

Fionn MacCool's Crossroads Station shopping center is closed today with a notice thanking people for their patronage. The Irish pub has been a fixture of the street since 2014 and is directly across from Kildonan Place. It seems suppliers were not even informed of the quick shutdown.

The notice in the window recommends that patrons go to the Grant Park location which has been open since 2017. It is not known what led to the shutdown of the Regent location. It is interesting to note that Hudson Bay Home behind it is also closing but one probably is not linked to the other.

Kildonan Place across the street is getting a multi-million expansion so the lucrativeness of that location should probably remain.

Will be interesting to see what comes in place of the Irish pub in the months ahead.

Union Stock Yard and Meatpacking Plants

In 1911 the movers and shakers convinced three different railways to partner up and become shareholders on industrial land in St. Boniface with the public having a say in the development as directors. Investor raised $1.5 million which is around $35 million today. The result was the Union Stock Yards off of what is Marion. It was a huge complex that included the stock yards, rail connections for all the rail lines, deep water well, administration building, restaurant and bank and concrete internal roads when it was common to have gravel roads elsewhere in the province. As the third largest city in Canada in 1911, Winnipeg was able to attract a fair amount of investment and was not afraid to think big

The above picture was taken most likely in the 1960 and features two of the six meatpacking plants that were built between 1918 and 1939. Harris Abattoir became Canada Packers and the plant next door was the Swift Plant. Prior to this near 70 per cent of processing was done in the United States. By 1922 the Union Stock Yards was the largest meat processor in the British empire with $20 million in production.

Nearly 3000 people would work at the Union Stock Yards and several hundred would work in each of the meatpacking plants. The picture below shows just how rural the Harris Abattoir (Canada Packers) was from St. Boniface and Winnipeg. A steam engine hints at how old the picture is and the Swift plant doesn't seem to have been built yet.

The above shows the Swift Plant in 1939. The scale of the building indicates just how important an industry this one was for Winnipeg.

By the 1980s the golden era of Union Stock Yards and the meatpacking district was over. Canada Packers and Swifts shut down in 1980 putting nearly 1600 workers out of jobs. Nearly the entire site is still awaiting it next purpose save for the Maple Leaf plant at the back end of the expansive property.

The Union Stock Yard water tower only hints at how many thousands used to work in the area.One of the last pictures below in 1988 before the stockyards were demolished.

Osborne Village in 1975

In the very early 1970s Osborne Village was very much in flux. The area around Roslyn Road remained popular as it connected to Wellington Crescent. A mix of nice home and high rise rentals popped up including the very new 55 Nassau at 38 storeys. However, some other stately homes were falling into disrepair and being turned into rooming houses. Some parts of River as as well Stradbrook got a lot rougher.

Osborne Street itself saw a change in businesses. At least two or three families began buying property and attracting renters and operating their own businesses that would given Osborne its cache in years ahead.

Most of the towers along the Assiniboine or the Village were very new in 1975. The density jumped in ways that were surprising. In today's day and age it might not happen with so many complaining that no development should happen in their own neighbourhoods. Even the present Safeway had its detractors although safe to say it has been essential in making Osborne Village the success it is.

Good design is important and there can always be debate on that. However, we have come to a period where no change at all ever is becoming the default position. At least four own neighbourhoods. Then 30 kilometer speed limits, speed bumps and road closures to through drivers are all the wage while same said neighbourhood wants a 12 lane 150 kilometer speed limit to get to the gates of the closed community.

The very new Winnipeg Convention Centre pre-expansion days is seen as well along with the very new Lakeview Square. Beside the Great-West Life building is the former Labatt's brewery. It became insurance company's second office on Osborne in the 1980s. The handsome Granite Club Curling Rink is visible beside the river across from the Village.

Osborne Village has gone through several incarnations including now but it has allowed density development that has made it vital over the years. The future is probably how to keep the neighbourhood safe and secure, affordable and avoid luxury blight where places are shuttered just because the rent is too high.

Cork and Flame Coming to St. James

It has been a while since the Nook and Cranny restaurant shut down in St. James. It was a second location for The Nook on Sherbrook with some added features such as a lounge. Around 2011 The Nook St. James opened but in the ever tough hospitality industry closed quietly last year. St. James is littered with some closed restaurant locations. Robin's, Mandarin and Gasthaus Gutenberg have all shuttered and remain closed.

The Nook and Cranny itself took over for the long running Schmeckers which had two locations and was the master of late nights for many years. The Big Schmeck would take a good long time to eat even for the ravenous. As for The Cranny, it seemed to be busy but running a restaurant is a seven days a week, at least two meals operation. And if you have a lounge, it means longer hours. It is backbreaking.

A sign along Portage Avenue says that Cork and Flame is coming soon. It has been up for a number of weeks now and contractor work vehicles have been outside all the time. The big trend lately for Winnipeg restaurants is a grill and it has seen some places in Charleswood transformed.

No word yet but will look to see the 350+ restaurant putting in the signage and opening soon.

Labatt's Broadway and Osborne

It used to be Manitoba's own Shea's but for many others it was remembered as the Labatt's beer plant across from the Manitoba Legislature. It was in 1953 the Shea's became Labatt's and the smokestack loomed large at Osborne Street and Broadway. It was Shea's that originally had the Clydesdale horses and Budweiser liked them so much he bought them and hired their Winnipeg trainer to come to St. Louis. Today's Budweiser Clydesdale horses are all descendants of the Winnipeg teams.

The name Labatt's Blue came from Winnipeg because fans of the Bombers and sportscaster Jack Wells kept calling the Pilsner "Blue" because of the label. The brewery eventually gave up and the name stuck as well as the connection to CFL football.

Old Exhibition Stadium was where the older of the two Great-West Life buildings is. For some time Great-West Life and Labatt's shared the land when the insurace company redeveloped the old stadium in 1957. The brewery had a beer store right on Osborne by the Great-West Life building entrance.

The Labatt's plant suffered a major fire in 1975 and in 1979 what remained was bulldozed setting up the expansion of Great-West Life into a second building. The new Labatt's plant was built in 1970 on Notre Dame and remained in operation till 1996.

One amazing view is in 1957-58 along Osborne Street where the smokestack of Labatt's can be seen along with the construction of the new Great-West Life building. Osborne Village looks like a real village. One thing I don't miss is all the hydro polls and trolley lines.

Kildonan Place Mall to Expand

The three large Sears locations have remained stubbornly closed at Polo Park, St. Vital and Kildonan Place. It stands to reason that all of them have been looking for a large size replacement or at the very least two retailers to share the holes left by Sears.

For Kildonan Place, it is second time looking for a replacement after Target closed in their mall. This triggered one of their largest and expensive makeovers that added H&M, Marshalls and several others to the space. The closure of Sears must have made them say "not again."

However, with this closure might have come opportunity. The original Kildonan Place built in 1980 had a Dominion grocery store. The stores closed in western Canada leaving malls like Polo Park and Kildonan  scrambling to fill the space. Polo Park got a larger Safeway and Kildonan just replaced with other stores.

Today's malls do not have a large line-up of other large retailers ready to jump in the moment a competitor falters. Heck, with the closures of Payless and HBC Home/Outfitters and others, there are a lack of even mid to small retailers ready in the wings.

The closure of Target and the takeover of Safeway by Sobey's has represented opportunities for grocers to enter the Manitoba market who are new or have been on a long hiatus. Co-Op stores via the Competition Act took over some Safeways and now operate three grocery stores in Winnipeg through Red River Co-Op. The Grant Park location is presently going through a major makeover. The other new entrant is British Columbia-based Save on Foods which took over McPhillips old Zellers location, the old Polo park Future Shop location and built a band new Bridgwater location.

As for the biggies. Extra Foods stores have been converted to franchise-owned No Frills stores and some Safeway/Sobey's stores are being converted Freshco grocery stores. It has all been a bit of a whirl. Suffice to say though that grocery stores still have a bricks and mortar presence even in a delivery world.

Kildonan Place's old Sears is set for a grocery conversion. Best guess by most people is a Save on Foods location based on exterior design although no name appears just yet.

The store would face out to Regent based on the designs being presented to the city this week. As big as the grocer is though, the mall had some extra space as well as ideas left. It would appear the back space facing out to Reenders will be a new space and an upgrade for Cineplex Odeon movie theatres. No word on whether it will be the same six theatres or more.

Another huge improvement will be the food court which has always been undersized given the square footage of the mall.

It will be quite a sizable food court when done and much more of a gathering spot than what presently exists.

The new mall will see changes to the back end parking as well as entrances to street but more landscaping as well.

There are a few other spaces for some larger retailers who now presently known yet. In terms of costs this expansions will be tens of millions and that is on top the millions spent to convert the old Target location. It is a complete affirmation of the owners in the space and the largest refresh done since the mall was built.

This is also a shot across the bow for Polo Park and St. Vital as Kildonan will be the first to fill its space where Sears left while the two larger cousins may enter yet another Christmas with empty retail.

The rumour is that both malls are ready to make announcements soon. In other words, it is game on but we'll see just how retailing is changing in what comes.

Netflix Review: The Code

One of the things that many mystery and thriller lovers have gravitated towards is Nordic Noir.  The international fare from Sweden, Norway and Iceland have gripped audiences world-wide. But is this type of noir only limited to the icy north? The Code from Australia would seem to disagree. It was produced in 2014 and Season 1 is on the Netflix now. One more season is expected to be added soon.

Canadians have enjoyed series from Australia before. We just don't see them as often as say Britain who eat up all content from down under. Netflix is now bring more Australian content than ever into Canada.

The plot of The Code is set around two brothers. One of the brother's is a political reporter for an online news organization and the other is an autistic hacker who is barely functional after brushes with the law. The journalist Ned played by Dan Spielman stumbles onto a story in the outback of an accident involving a death that has political implications all the way to the capital. Against his better judge Ned asks his brother Jesse played by Ashley Zukerman to use his skills to clean up a cellphone video that might shed some light on what happened. As per usual Jesse goes too far and while investigating further hacks into a site sensitive to the government setting off a trail of violence that follows the two brothers around. Jesse has a form of autism that makes his adept at computers and not so good with people. His journalist brother has always looked out for him through it has worn him down in terms of not having a life truly his own.

Creator Shelley Birse focuses on a deeply ingrained fear of what the security apparatus of the country has done to Australia's liberties. Canberra features almost like a character in the series for those who have really never seen the capital say versus Sydney. The other beautiful but fly ridden place featured is Broken Hill in New South Wales. It is out in the Outback where a suspicious accident leaves one teenager dead and other suffering an unknown malady.

A blonde Lucy Lawless is a teacher named Alex out in the town of Lindara in the Broken Hill area and senses something is deeply wrong and connects with Ned who has received a tip from an old flame working in the Deputy Prime Minister's office in Australia. Eventually a cellphone video reveals something more sinister took place besides a collision and that the government is involved. The video becomes a McGuffin with people pursuing it and trying to shut it down.

The series taps into a very deep seated fear that seems to permeate Australia about the government, police and intelligence services. If Canadians feel they fixate too much on the United States, they should see Australian TV. The Code builds up the paranoia and fear to a crescendo as the two brothers try to figure out and get out of the mess of cracking the computer code of a government linked Corporation called Physanto.

At six episodes, the series moves at a great clip and concludes with just a little bit of paranoia at the end to make it all worthwhile. A fun series shot in an area of Australia not usually seen in a noir like way not done nearly often enough in Australia. Try catching it if you like thrillers, espionage, conspiracy and murder.

Vita Health and Mark's Warehouse Coming to Linden Ridge

The last few areas of Linden Ridge mall are set to be developed in 2019. The new Lowe's will see two buildings constructed across from their parking lot. This is quite a coup for the mall as Kenaston Common just north of their location will be seeing a contraction as Payless ShoeSource and HBC Home close there. In all, three HBC Home and eight Payless will close in the city this year.

The new construction appears to be triggered by two major retailers locating in Linden Ridge namely Vita Health and Mark's Warehouse.

Both retailers should find a market for their goods in the growing area.

Once the buildings are complete, Linden Ridge will be more or less fully developed in their very slow and steady approach over the last few decades.

Union Bank Building in 1904

A few interesting things to note about the construction of the Union Bank Tower in 1904. The first is that they appear to fill in the floors from the middle rather than the bottom. My speculation is that because they constructed this skyscraper without a crane, they needed to bring in building material though both the first three floors and up inside the structure. That, in addition to, a pully system on the outside.

Pretty much all horses up and down Main Street at this time. Streetcars were not allowed in the downtown area even though the first electric ones appeared by the 1890s further down Main Street. City council was against the electric lines and when they did finally approve construction, used a bigtime railway company rather than the local who built the system in the first place. Bribes were suspected.

The luxurious Leland Hotel is seen behind the Union Bank building. It was destroyed in a fire in this century after being abandoned.

Today's Union Bank building in now a vital part of Red River College's downtown campus serving as residence and home for the culinary arts school.

Portage and Main 1960

In 1960 Winnipeg still had trolley buses but five years earlier there were still streetcars throughout the city. The middle two lanes were replaced with cars along Portage and Main Streets as well as all over the city.

Polo Park was just a year old and still not yet enclosed. The city was not unified and other cities like St. Boniface and St. James were part of the urban conglomeration with some basic services covered by Metro Winnipeg but everyone had their own city halls, police and fire departments.

Not seen in this picture is the fact that the present site of the Richardson building had been largely a car station and parking lot for a few decades already. It was also filled with billboards that could be seen all the way down Portage Avenue. Construction of the Richardson building would not start for another eight years.

The Nanton building can be seen in the background flying the Red Ensign of Canada. The new flag for Canada featuring a maple leaf was still five years away, There are also flags of France flying which gives an indication that this may have been taken around Remembrance Day as so many Manitobans had their final resting place in that country as a result of two wars. In many ways Canada was still very much British in its establishment although Manitoba itself had quite a lot of European diversity as well as Metis and First Nations. We also had many re-located Japanese Canadians from the war fifteen years earlier. The first Filipinos started coming to Canada mostly doctors in what what would become a steady flow of immigrants from that country.

 Winnipeg was still very much the biggest city in the prairies at the time. Only Vancouver rivaled in the west. Rail still ruled compared the flying. And highways all over were nothing to get excited about. Most were two lanes.

Cars themselves, however as you can see from the picture, were getting bigger as gas was plentiful and cheap. Most neighbourhoods had a few gas stations and mechanics in them and that included downtown where an abundance of repair shops existed.

Winnipeg like much of Canada had an increasing amount of confidence that only built as the country neared its 100th birthday,

Rec Room Seasons of Tuxedo Under Construction

The Rec Room restaurant and gaming center is under construction beside the Hyatt Hotel building site. It isn't where I first thought it would be. I had always presumed it to be on the north side of Sterling Lyon.

At the moment they are putting down pylons into the frozen ground for building foundation. Meanwhile the Hyatt Hotel has reached its final height and is beginning to fill in each floor.

Rec Room from Cineplex will re-write the rules on an entertainment site when it is complete and is likely to draw many young people to the area.

There are still some gaps to be filled on the south side of the Seasons of Tuxedo site but these latest developments should attract other tenants.

More of the Rec Room when it nears opening day in this year,

Home Outfitters/HBC Home to Close - Sak's Off 5th Might Close

HBC announced that Home Outfitters across Canada will close. At one time there used to be near 70 stores across Canada but that number has dropped to 37 and 700 employees. In Winnipeg in 2016, HBC converted three Home Outfitters to Hudson Bay Home and the concept was supposed to spread across Canada. Those locations were Kenaston, Regent and St. James.

It is interesting to note that the St. James location once housed Linens and Things which failed years ago taking Canada's 55 stores along with it. Sadly, it and the other two location HBC locations will be liquidated along with Home Outfitters.

Winnipeg's two major malls at Polo Park and St. Vital are still looking for the perfect fit for their former Sears stores. And more store space is being built even as companies like HBC and Sears close stores. Other retailers as well are closing across Canada including Winnipeg. More on that in another post.

It would be easy to blame Amazon as online retailing has indeed created problems. However, the simple fact is that too many stores can also hurt your business model. Companies like Disney, Lego and IKEA have fewer stores and offer experiences that stand out. They become destinations in and of themselves.

The more interesting announcement by HBC was not that Home Outfitters was closing but that they were closing 20 Sak's Off 5th stores in the U.S. and re-evaluating the whole company. HBC has so far affirmed confidence in Winnipeg's store at Outlet Collection of Winnipeg. It is unknown how profitable the store is in Seasons of Tuxedo.

The Seasons of Tuxedo is continuing to fill in with stores, entertainment and services. But it is also filling in with residents. Thousands of people now live on site. It will be interesting to see if this helps business in the area as they have a resident population within steps of the mall.

In 2019 though it would appear landlords are going to have to struggle to fill space. It could be we see some rent decreases and sub-dividing space to make it more palatable. We also might see some local concepts take off in this new landscape.

Festival du Voyageur

These pictures from the Festival du Voyageur site show Fort Gibraltar and part of the festival site. At 50 years, the festival is one of the largest and oldest festivals during winter in Canada.

Louis Riel Day is now a good addition to the celebrations in its 11th year. Many families take in the ice sculptures and maple shack, music and the fort.

Happy Louis Riel Day to everyone!

Konz: Pizza Cones Coming to Cityplace

Pizza Cones are coming to Winnipeg to the Cityplace food court. The western-based franchise Konz has 10 locations and is presently under construction in Winnipeg. The main menu item is as it sounds: pizza in the form of a cone. Various pizza recipes and toppings in a hand held cone.

The price for this delicacy is $6.99 and is likely to be gobbled up by the hockey and concert crowds. It will also be of interest to the considerable lunchtime crowds Cityplace sees every day as people move from building to building.

Expect an opening very shortly.

Netflix Review: Occupied

The one thing that Netflix has accomplished with great success is making international fare available world-wide. Long in the past this was pretty much exclusively the domain of CBC and PBS and more recently cable. Generally though, international meant from the U.K. and in English such as Coronation Street and Masterpiece Theatre.

Netflix started in Canada as a streaming service in 2010 and nine years later has become one of the biggest distributors of international fare in the country. It is a far cry from their beginnings when it was majority Hollywood and no original material. That would come slowly in 2012.  Still, Canadians were more apt to game their connection to Netflix by getting their signal from the U.S and that was for years. There was just far more in their library. It was only when Americans tried to get Netflix Canada that this stopped as the company shut it down. In 2019 Canada has the third largest library for Netflix and in some cases material U.S. Netflix clients want but can no longer get because of licensing.

Canadians watch a lot of Netflix and often look for binge worthy series. We in Canada are more likely to watch a subtitled series whereas a lot of Americans will pass it by. One series which was rarely reviewed outside of Europe but has had fans in Canada is Norway's Occupied. Two seasons are available now and a third is in production for a total of 18 so far. The creator is multi-talented Jo Nesbo, an internationally best selling author of mysteries some of which have been made into Hollywood movies.

Season 1 of  Occupied came out in 2015 and seems prescient considering today's political climate. In the year it arrived Barrack Obama was President, Britain was not in the midst of Brexit, NATO was solid and relationships across a broad range of areas seemed more stable. In the series though Norway is recovering from a rather catastrophic time with global warming which allows the Green Party to take over. The United States has turned its back on Europe and NATO and is now energy self sufficient. The Middle East is in conflict.

Norway develops a new technology based on nuclear power and the Greens make the decision to end oil production while promoting the cleaner energy to the world. Europe is suffering an energy crisis and give Russia the green light to seize Norwegian energy platforms and pipelines in a velvet mostly bloodless military invasion. The oil must flow! And all the while Russia tightens its grip on Norway.

This is the world introduced in less than half an episode and it leaves you on edge of your seat. During World War II Germany invaded and occupied Norway. There were those that fought the occupation and those that cooperated. The word Quisling originates in Norway and was the name of the prime minister who collaborated with the Germans and was executed for his crimes after. Today Quisling in any language means traitor.

And so it goes in this modern Norway. There are those who work with the Russians and those who work against.  However, it is never black and white and characters can go through various phases because the actual occupation is something that slowly envelopes Norwegian society.

Occupied has drawn attention because of how gripping it is but also how prescient. The Russian occupation in Norway looks so similar to how Russia took over Crimea in the Ukraine. However, the show was filmed and aired before this ever happened! There was real anger in the Kremlin in regards to the series of how inflammatory it was.  This has to be seen in the context of the Little Green Men who appeared in Crimea and were made out to be locals when in fact they were Russian military.

Over two seasons and 18 episodes Occupied follows an ensemble cast whom I won't name here but I will say they are as top notch as you will find in film and TV. The language ranges from Norwegian to Russian to English but is all subtitled. The show is glossy and is as good or better than any thriller, political or spy series out there. For some it might be as satisfactory or better than Homeland or Jack Ryan.

A third season is planned but Netflix has not committed to air it. Seems that few in Canada have reviewed or are even aware of how good this series in.

Master's of London and Control Escape Close in Charleswood

Master's of London has ads up in the news and in their windows that the store is closing. It was the store that took over the Charleswood Department Store's site after the owner passed away after decades in business. The owners of Master's were not new to retail either. They had owned stores in other locations such as Tuxedo and Grant Park for years before moving onto Roblin Boulevard in Old Charleswood.

It is not certain why the business is closing but suffice to say that retail is tough and the right location in one place might not be the right location elsewhere. The sale continues but suspect the actual door closing could be soon.

Another Charleswood business to close is Control Escape, one of the city ubiquitous escape rooms.

If anyone was thinking that the city might be hitting maximum amount of escape rooms this was probably an indication. It did not even make a year in their location right beside the Co-Op gas.

Old Charleswood had nearly come to fully leased in the past year but now their gaps. Lowey Insurance recently took the opportunity to expand into the retail store beside it. And one chiropractor business closed only to be replaced by another.

It will be interesting to see what goes up where Master's of London is. It is awkwardly placed and may not be the best spot for a large retail or restaurant business. The time might have come to subdivide it.

Portage and Main 1978

The construction of the Concourse under Portage and Main was a massive undertaking costing tens of millions of dollars in 1978. It arrived just in time for the recession of 1980 where Winnipeg took it on the chin like no other time since the war.

The Trizec building that had just gone up sat largely empty for a few years after it was built and the additional plans for another tower and hotel evaporated. Today the tower has been re-skinned and has a Toronto Dominion logo sporting from the top. It has lost some key tenants to the True North Square but has landed news ones in the accounting and legal firms. A residential tower is going up and will continue to in 2019. By the end it will be the tallest tower in Winnipeg.

Meanwhile, the Concourse is 40 year piece of infrastructure that is falling apart above ground and below and leaks. Street crossing has been rejected but this corner now does not the meet the standards for accessibility, safety or for 24 hour access with various parts closed to public after hours.

One day it will be condemned or worse collapse.

Drop in Dance Winnipeg Open

The former location of Loewen Piano House on north Portage had sat empty for a while very close to Rae And Jerry's at 1381 Portage. This area has always been a vital commercial area marked by music stores such as St. John's and Quest as well as dog, cat and fish shops and pizza restaurants sitting side by side. It was sad to see Loewen close. The days of boutique family piano stores in the vein of J.J.H McLean seem to be on the wane.

I had seen the windows papered over some time ago and new something was coming but last night while driving to a meeting, the lights were blazing and the sign stood out as Drop In Dance. And inside a busy hive of people in studio beyond in silhouette. On a very cold February with an army of snow clearing equipment on the streets, people were dropping in and dancing.

The concept of this business is in its name. It is a place that people can drop in for classes or renting the studio for dance. And clearly people in Winnipeg love to dance. There are dance schools throughout the city and performances and competitions constantly. Many of these schools and studios are in the suburbs. It would seem that a drop in studio is just perfect for Portage Avenue being on a major route with bus service, parking and residential neighbourhoods in proximity.

On a dark and cold night in the city, Drop In Dance radiated warmth and activity. And what more could want want for Portage Avenue?

True North Square

The True North Square continues to develop. The TDS law firm is already in place with three floors occupied and MNP accounting and Scotiabank are ready to go. Ceridian has announced they are moving their 200 payroll people into 242 Hargrave as well. This would constitute over 50 per cent leased and more coming.

The office building that lost the most at 360 Main Street (formerly Trizec but now sporting a TD Bank logo) has picked up Wellington Altus financial services, BDO accounting and IGM part of Investors Group. Taylor McCaffrey is moving to 201 Portage (former TD/Canwest building).

It means gaps in other buildings but the growth in e-commerce is filling space here and there and landlords are upgrading buildings to fit the needs of tenants looking to re-locate or expand.  The second office tower of of the True North development appears to be going through finishing touches inside.

Meanwhile, the True North Square has hosted one event for the Winnipeg Jets. First impressions are that it probably will serve for some street party and other events but will be reserved for sponsors and special events. The street parties simply have too many people and Donald Street is likely to remain most suited.

The overpasses and second floor area seem ideally in support of moving people around and supporting local tenants. While the towers do have underground parking, those coming for BellMTS events will be approaching from every direction. Everyone should keep in mind that the ground being built on has been a parking lot for decades.

The final component to the four towers built is the Sutton Place Hotel and condo complex. They will complete the True North development. The hotel itself will probably leapfrog to become the most top rated hotel in downtown Winnipeg and possibly home to visiting NHL teams when they play in the city. It will also be another support for the expanded RBC Winnipeg Convention Centre.

Once all the work is completed in next 18 months or so, it is likely we'll see a lull as Winnipeg's business community settles into their new places with some exceptions. The stalled and probably dead Skycity development sits on some choice land. The site across from the Canadian Human Rights Museum will probably also have an announcement soon.

Could this be the year the Winnipeg Jets celebrate their biggest victory on the streets and square surrounding bring tens of thousands of fans downtown? Here's hoping.