Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

City committee votes to take A&B Sound building off conservation list

Council's downtown development committee has voted to remove the former A&B Sound building from Winnipeg's building conservation list to make way for a new complex on the north side of Portage Avenue.

 This morning's vote means the building can be demolished to allow for the development of a $40-million hotel and office complex.

Earlier this year, CentreVenture and the Chipman family-owned Longboat Development Corp. announced plans to convert the former A&B Sound building into a boutique hotel designed and developed by Quebec hotelier Groupe Germaine. The hotel will be part of a complex that will also include space for retail and planning and engineering firm Stantec.

The site is currently the home of the MTS Exhibition Centre.

CentreVenture plans to sell the property to Longboat, which, in turn, will construct the 54-room hotel, retail and office complex, which will comprise 200,000 square feet.

It is slated to open in September, 2013.

A city report said the project is the first major private-sector investment on Portage Avenue in many years and is expected to be the catalyst for the establishment of a Sports Hospitality Entertainment District (SHED) and the revitalization of downtown Portage Avenue.

A city report said the department does not support delisting buildings from its conservation list, but in this case, the long-term benefit outweighs the need to keep the building.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

 

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