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Housing project future of infill

$200-M development to be unveiled

By: Murray McNeill

Posted: 07/29/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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Larry Carter says the development on the land will take three to four years to complete. (PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

Vacant land in city put to very good use

The Fort Rouge Railway Yard redevelopment project:

Where is it? On a 6.4-hectare parcel of vacant land on the northeast corner of Pembina Highway and Jubilee Avenue and adjacent to the city's proposed new bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor intended to run from the downtown to the University of Manitoba.

What's planned? An eco-sensitive, infill housing development that will include 400 townhouse units and two to three 12-to-16-storey towers containing about 500 apartment-style units. Some will be rental units and some will be condominiums.

Who's doing it? Winnipeg's B & M Land Co. owns the land and Calgary-based Lexington Investment Corp. is the developer. Lexington will also be marketing the condos.

How big are the housing units? The townhouse units will all have three bedrooms and the apartment-style units will include one-, two- and three-bedroom options.

What are the rental rates and selling prices? That has not yet been determined.

What are some of the other features of the development? Geothermal heating and cooling systems will be installed in all of the buildings. There will also be an abundance of green space, walkways and bicycle paths, all connected to the surrounding neighbourhood.

-- Source: Lexington Investment Corp.

The preliminary plans for a new $200-million multi-family housing development being touted as a blueprint for future infill developments in Winnipeg will be unveiled to the public today.

Winnipeg-based B & M Land Co. and Calgary-based Lexington Investment Corp. are teaming up to build a new 900-unit townhouse/apartment/condominium development on the former Fort Rouge Rail Yard (FRRY) site in south Winnipeg.

A senior city planning official said the project, which hasn't been given a name yet, is ground-breaking for a variety of reasons.

For starters, it will be the first of several new infill housing developments expected to spring up near the city's planned new bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor, which will run between downtown Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba.

These developments are referred to as transit-oriented developments (TODs) because they focus on transit as the primary mode of transportation for the residents.

"It's also very significant because it's our first real area-redevelopment site that's being developed," said Michelle Richard, co-ordinator of the city's Our Winnipeg initiative, the document that will serve as the city's development blueprint for the next 25 years.

Richard said there are 10 other major sites, most either vacant land or former industrial sites, that the city has identified for redevelopment over the next two decades. Others include the former Canada Packers site in St. Boniface, the former Kapyong Barracks site on Kenaston Boulevard, and the former Manitoba Sugar Beet property in Fort Garry.

She said the FRRY project will also be the city's first real opportunity to demonstrate that new neighbourhoods can be creating within an existing area of the city.

"We've never really done that before."

The preliminary plans for the FRRY project are being unveiled at a public open house being held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Lord Roberts Community Centre, 725 Kylemore Ave.

Lexington president Larry Carter said in an interview the development will be built in three phases. Construction is expected to get underway next spring, and will take three to four years to complete.

It will include 400 townhouse units and 500 apartment-style units. The latter will be contained within two or three multi-storey towers.

Some of the units will be rental and some will be condominiums, he said. Exactly how many of each hasn't been determined.

The partners also don't know yet what the size and price ranges will be for the units. That will depend to some extent on which layout they go with for the site and there will be several options display at the open house.

Carter said Lexington and B & M Land have already consulted with city planners and local community groups and businesses about how the site should be developed. Now it wants to hear from area residents.

"We want their input on what concerns them and also what they like about it," he said. "We have some ideas about what we'd like to do. But nothing is cast in stone at this point."

Richard said the FRRY project is believed to be the largest multi-family residential project to be undertaken in the city since the late 1980s.

In addition to being designed so residents have quick and easy access to the new BRT system, all of the buildings in the development will be equipped with geothermal heating and cooling systems.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 29, 2010 B5

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