Red River College appears before a city council committee this morning with an ambitious plan to expand its downtown campus.
The proposal involves 100 new apartments, a 600-student faculty and retail outlets and restaurants opening up inside a heritage building vacant since 1992.
Jeff Zabudsky of Red River College displays a model of the proposed redevelopment of the Union Bank Tower.
The college will appear before council's executive policy committee to unveil details about its proposal to convert the Union Bank Tower -- a 103-year-old heritage "skyscraper" at the corner of William Avenue and Main Street -- into student housing and an upgraded culinary and hospitality school.
The $25-million plan, which would also see a new glass-fronted building rise on Main Street just south of the Union Bank Tower and a third structure rise on the former site of the Leland Hotel, is being touted as the single largest catalyst for the continuing renewal of the Exchange District since the college opened its $30-million Princess Street campus in 2002.
"As anchor tenants, colleges and universities can do amazing things in the community," said Red River College president and CEO Jeff Zabudsky, who will appear before EPC to support a two-year extension of a city development agreement with current Union Bank Tower owners Pace-Greentree Builders and Man-Shield Construction.
The expansion plan would see Red River College replace the cramped culinary and hospitality classrooms at its Notre Dame campus with new kitchens and teaching restaurants on the bottom two floors of the Union Bank Tower, as well as in the new glass-fronted structure to the south.
Seven upper floors of the tower would be converted to student housing, while the top floor would become office space. A grocery store and other commercial ventures in the bottom of the complex would serve both students and Exchange District residents, Zabudsky said.
The college's existing 400-student culinary and hospitality program has a waiting list for admissions and both the restaurant and hotel industries are calling for an expansion, he added.
"We need to expand it anyway, so rather than do it on Notre Dame, we want to do this downtown, where it makes more sense for students and the industry."
The plan calls for Union Bank Tower's current stewards to donate the building to downtown development agency CentreVenture, which would assist the college with the redevelopment.
Placing the building in public hands would allow the college to raise money from corporate donors and private citizens, said Ross McGowan, CentreVenture's president and CEO.
However, the plan still requires city council approval and a green light from both the provincial and federal governments, which may help finance the project. An existing federal pledge of $1 million toward the revitalization of the tower will expire if the work is not completed by October.
Russ Wyatt, council's downtown development chairman, said he believes Red River's proposal is an easy sell, given the fact it creates affordable housing downtown and preserves a heritage building at the same time it stimulates commercial development.
"We've been waiting for something to happen with the Union Bank Tower. It's Western Canada's oldest skyscraper, so it makes sense to tie into Red River College," Wyatt said. "It's an extremely exciting project and we hope it comes to fruition, and that's why we're extending the time to allow the building to be redeveloped."
If the plan goes ahead, construction would begin in 2009 and would be completed in 2010, Zabudsky said.
It would dovetail with a CentreVenture/Exchange District BIZ plan to revitalize neighbouring Old Market Square, he added.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
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