U of W, province partnering in new downtown apartment building

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/11/2013 (4682 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The University of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba are partnering to build a new 14-storey, $27-million apartment complex in the heart of downtown Winnipeg.

The 102-unit, mixed-use complex will include one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Forty-six of the units will be earmarked for low-income Manitobans — mainly students with families — and 56 will be offered at market rents. Thirty-two of the affordable units will also be offered on a rent-geared-to-income basis.

The complex will be built on a university-owned surface parking lot immediately south of the U of W’s Buhler Centre, which is located at the corner of Portage Avenue and Colony Street.

Construction will begin next spring, and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2015.

“We recognize that many students are also parents with unique housing needs and, with an extremely low vacancy rate, downtown Winnipeg needs more residential options,” Lloyd Axworthy, the U of W’s president and vice-chancellor, said in announcing the project.

“We are extremely committed to removing whatever barriers we can so that recent immigrants, indigenous people, rural students and adult learners can choose to follow their dreams and obtain a university education,” Axworthy added. “We are also strengthening downtown renewal by offering more market-priced and premium apartments in a highly sought prominent and convenient location.”

The province will be providing a loan guarantee, as well as tax-increment financing and provincial sales tax (PST) credits.

“This new building will be perfectly situated to provide a home for students from a variety of backgrounds and will add new richness to the growing downtown community,” said Housing Minister Peter Bjornson. “It will create jobs, provide an economic boost for services in the area and build upon our partnership with UWinnipeg, which has changed the landscape of downtown Winnipeg.”

The U of W’s Community Renewal Corp. will be the project developer and will manage the complex once it opens. LM Architectural Group will design the building.