From urban blight to bright business site

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This article was published 29/05/2023 (1208 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Donna McAlpine peered into an empty room.

“This, one day, will be a podcast recording studio,” she said, motioning to the blank walls and new carpet.

Two minutes later, she stood outside 65 Dewdney Ave. on a grassy strip overlooking the Red River. A construction fence obstructed the view; eventually, Donna plans for a picnic space with a more esthetic barrier. Maybe lawyers will grab lunch with accountants.

For years, the space had been vacant, pockmarked with holes in its walls and damages from break-ins. Now, Donna hopes her passion project will create a bustle, drawing business professionals to this corner of Point Douglas.

Balance Management — which Donna co-founded — transformed 65 Dewdney Ave. into a business centre with 21 offices and shared spaces.

“The area is underutilized and underappreciated,” Donna said. “We really do want to create a community within the building, and we really do want to help raise the positive aspects of Point Doug in general.”

Balance Management took possession of the site in December 2021. Donna and her husband Rich had their eyes locked on it years earlier.

The couple grew up in British Columbia and “fell in love” with Winnipeg when they moved seven years ago. However, they found “so many neglected buildings and so many areas that could be revitalized,” Donna said.

Rich, 45, said he’s worked in construction for decades. Donna has a background in project management.

“I just liked that it was on the river,” Rich said. “I’m all about the water — doesn’t matter where.”

The couple kept driving by the lot, which is visible from Higgins Avenue, as it went unused.

Meantime, Donna, her husband and a group of friends began an investment company. They flipped a bungalow in Transcona and sold it in 2021. Then, they incorporated Balance Management last October and jumped into their first “giant” building — the 11,000-square-foot block on Dewdney.

“It was not entirely pleasant in here,” Donna said, sitting in an office with fresh paint on the walls — in a neutral colour, a sharp contrast from the purple and black she experienced on her first visit.

She was hesitant to purchase, but Rich had a vision.

“Just from a bones perspective, I knew it’d be easy to bring back to life,” he said, taking a break from creating the parking lot. “I could tell it’s all post and beam.”

“What we hope is to have a diverse group of people in here that ideally support each other, collaborate with each other.”–Donna McAlpine

He and business partner Tim Stade worked on the site daily. Out went the drop ceilings and inefficient boiler. In went holes, into the old office doors — the doors now hang from the ceiling and hold lights.

“You can salvage a lot,” Rich said.

Behind him, wooden planks jutted from an accent wall he and Tim created. The business used rebates from Efficiency Manitoba to add heat pumps, Donna noted.

She’d hurry from her full-time job as a project manager to tasks concerning 65 Dewdney Ave. in the evenings. She watched as the building transformed, with boardrooms, kitchen spaces and accessible washrooms.

Donna wouldn’t disclose renovation costs, but said Balance Management spent 20 to 30 per cent more than expected as construction costs rapidly inflated.

Now, she’s looking for tenants.

“What we hope is to have a diverse group of people in here that ideally support each other, collaborate with each other,” she said.

Accountants, consultants and coaches might rent the offices, which range from 96 to 171 square feet. Rent costs $1,000 to $1,500 monthly, depending on office size and view. The goal is to have tenants sign for a year to start, Donna said.

She expects to open the business center July 3. All 21 offices were available as of Monday.

Donna said she’s thought a lot about work from home culture while continuing this project.

“I think that there are those people who need to talk to people. They need to be out,” she said. “We’re banking on… having some extroverts who want to rent.”

If needed, Balance Management will be flexible with leases, signing tenants for less than a year, she said.

Winnipeg’s office vacancy rate was 13.9 per cent in the first three months of 2023. The number increases to a historic high of 16.3 per cent when focusing on downtown offices, according to data from CBRE, a global real estate firm.

Still, co-working spaces such as 65 Dewdney Ave. have a market, said Paul Kornelsen, CBRE Winnipeg’s vice-president and managing director.

“They’ve certainly become more popular over the last number of years,” he noted.

Such spaces usually offer contracts of two years or less. They’re attractive for their relatively low commitment, especially as workers navigate a post-pandemic landscape where white-collar work can often be done remotely, Kornelsen added.

Co-working areas occupy space across the city.

“If the building itself is unique enough and the space in there is attractive enough to professionals to be there, it certainly could be something that is good for the neighbourhood,” Kornelsen said.

Donna said she’s had positive experiences in Point Douglas.

“All the neighbours look out for each other,” she said.

Balance Management is arranging tours of the office, for interested renters, at officespace@balancemgmt.ca.

The company will take a break before diving into another project, Donna said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com