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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Slow-and-steady style lauded

By: Martin Cash

Posted: 05/10/2010 6:02 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Mark Chipman's matter-of-fact story of his family's investment in the MTS Centre at Wednesday's jam-packed inaugural Winnipeg Real Estate Forum was in stark contrast to the city's poor state of affairs in the mid-1990s.

That's when the National Hockey League abandoned the city and the joke around town -- and across the country -- was that the last person out of Winnipeg should shut the lights.

That was clearly an exaggeration, just like the observation sometimes heard that nobody built a damn thing in Winnipeg in the 1990s.

But fast forward 15 years and things are certainly looking better.

It was fitting that Chipman was part of an early morning panel discussion on the city's competitive edge. Organizers could have sold more tickets than the 450 they had available for the event, probably as telling an indicator as any of some sort of coming of age for the city.

Just the fact that organizers -- who are holding similar forums in seven other Canadian cities -- decided to add Winnipeg to its event portfolio is evidence enough that the city has officially arrived, at least on the radar of real estate investors.

Because there sure are plenty of things being built in the city now.

One senior property development official said there are more projects in the works with long-term implications for the city than maybe at any other time. Think of the bus rapid transit line, the new football stadium, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, a new airport terminal and the massive IKEA retail development.

Organizers touted the presence of more than 125 attendees -- presumably investors -- from out of town. One of the underlying reasons for holding the event was that there are attractive opportunities for investment in the Winnipeg real estate market.

One local investor mentioned a recent $40-million portfolio acquisition he made in the city, and there is plenty of indication that long-held family holdings may be coming up for sale. That won't necessarily add much to Winnipeg's GDP growth rate, but stability is one of the things attracting real estate investors to the market in the first place.

Presumably, those investors would bet the city's slow-growth dynamic is likely to continue.

A sobering occasion at the event was listening to four of the city's top office-building asset managers, who were unanimous in their analysis that there is no likelihood of any new multi-tenant office buildings in the city soon, even though it's been 20 years since the last one was built. But they did have something to say about the local economy as it relates to the demand for office space.

Frank Sherlock, longtime manager of the 360 Main St. tower, characterized the city's downtown office business as a domestic market. It's primarily about local businesses growing or shrinking.

In his presentation, Chipman was true to form in that he did not make any reference to dollars and cents, exhibiting Winnipeg-style humility and the long tradition of keeping the workings of the city's quiet money quiet.

He also noted that the city's economy is dominated by privately owned businesses that can take a long-term approach and not be distracted by the need to constantly produce short-term profits.

One way to look at the enthusiastic turnout to Wednesday's event may be that Winnipeg is finally getting some props for the slow, steady approach.

It's a good thing, too, because it's not likely to change any time soon.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 10, 2010 B5

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