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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Projects get major boosts

Investors step up, Lowe's eyes city: source

By: Murray McNeill

Posted: 04/18/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Longboat president Scott Stephanson (left), with director of commercial development Doug McKay, says the company is talking to interested developers about the potential construction of a 300-unit highrise residential building downtown. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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Sources say home-improvement retailer Lowe's will build near the IKEA site. (MICHAEL DWYER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES)

The biggest-ever retail development in Winnipeg -- the IKEA-anchored Seasons of Tuxedo -- has attracted a major out-of-province investor and another high-profile tenant, while the downtown Centrepoint project has also acquired a new deep-pocketed partner.

Montez Corp., a Toronto-based investment firm, has acquired a 40 per cent stake in the southern half of the 1.5-million-square-foot retail/office/residential development in southwest Winnipeg. Financial details were not disclosed.

Industry sources and a source close to the project said Lowe's, the U.S.-based home-improvement retailer that's carving out a place for itself in the Canadian market, has agreed to join IKEA and Winnipeg-based Cabela's Canada as a third anchor in the development.

They said Lowe's will be building a 100,000-square-foot store on the same portion of the development -- the area on the south side of Sterling Lyon Parkway -- where a 395,000-square-foot IKEA store and a 72,000-square-foot Cabela's store are going.

Meanwhile, Longboat Development Corp. confirmed Tuesday another big institutional investor -- Winnipeg-based Artis Real Estate Investment Trust -- has become a partner in its $70-million Centrepoint project in downtown Winnipeg.

That project, called 311 Portage Avenue at Centrepoint -- will see the construction of a five-storey office/retail complex, a 15-storey Alt hotel, and a 400-stall parkade on the block directly across the street from the MTS Centre.

Although Longboat didn't reveal details of the partnership with Artis, information posted on the REIT's website says it paid $32 million for a 50 per cent stake.

It says it will also be contributing up to $10 million toward the development costs.

Longboat president Scott Stephanson did disclose a few more details about some of the other elements that may be added to the multi-phase project.

He said a potential retail component, which the company first confirmed in February, could include up to 300 apartments or condominium units in a highrise tower that would be built on the Hargrave Street side of the block.

They would likely be 800 to 900 square feet in size, and would include both one- and two-bedroom units.

But Stephanson made it clear Longboat won't proceed with a residential tower unless it can partner with an experienced residential developer. He said the company is talking to interested developers, but it may be up to six months before it knows whether a deal can be struck.

Stephanson also confirmed Longboat might add a second office building to the site, likely on the northwest corner of the block.

But it would first need to sign an anchor tenant. And while it's talking to several parties, it also may be up to six months before it knows if that proposal is feasible.

In the meantime, construction crews are continuing with demolition of three buildings on the southeast corner of the block to make room for the combination office building/hotel. That will be built on the site of the former A&B Sound, Wild Planet and Mitchell Copp buildings. The first two structures are being demolished, and the facade is the only part of the Mitchell Copp building that will be saved.

Stephanson said demolition should be complete by the end of May, with work on the office/hotel complex, which will also include two main-floor restaurants, starting soon after.

At the Seasons of Tuxedo site, work on the IKEA store is well underway, and is expected to be complete late this year. Work on the Cabela's store isn't expected to begin until this summer, and should be finished by the spring of 2013.

A spokesman for the development's other co-developer (along with IKEA) -- Winnipeg's Fairweather Properties -- could not be reached for comment. And a Lowe's spokesperson refused to confirm if it's building a store there.

Montez officials also declined to comment Tuesday on the role it will be playing in the project. But it's believed it will be mainly as an equity investor.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 18, 2012 B7

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