True North chairman hits back at Bowman; says mayor knew of project plans

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This article was published 04/02/2015 (3926 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Mark Chipman ‎said he’s disappointed with Mayor Brian Bowman for “impugning the reputation” of True North Sports & Entertainment over its plans to develop two parcels of downtown Winnipeg land.

The True North chairman addressed reporters this afternoon to share details of his company’s $400-million plan to build two towers and a public square on a Manitoba Public Insurance-owned surface-parking lot at 225 Carlton St. and a third tower on the CentreVenture-owned ‎Carlton Inn site at 220 Carlton St.

“It’s not our practice to allow someone to accuse us of doing something improper or stand idle and allow for a complete mischaracterization of the facts to occur,” Chipman said.

Chipman said he doesn’t understand why Bowman repeatedly has said he only knew “rumors and rumblings” about the project when he said Bowman and provincial cabinet minister Kevin Chief were shown a video about the project in mid-November following a Winnipeg Jets game.

That video clearly shows the location of the proposed development on both the 220 and 225 Carlton Street properties.

It was the same video that Bowman said his chief of staff, Jason Fuith, had viewed but that the video was imprecise in its details and where the project was to be located.

Bowman, who was en route to Toronto when Chipman made his comments, said he did see a video in November but is not certain it is the same one presented to Fuith in December or to reporters today.

“Showing someone a video before they’re apprised of what we now know doesn’t constitute public disclosure,”Bowman said from Toronto.

The mayor said he had only just taken office and was not made aware of any aspects of True North’s development plans when he saw the video. He also said he was assured they did not involve city property – and certainly was not aware the city had a financial stake in 220 Carlton St.

“I wasn’t even aware of any of those facts. I’ve been working very hard to learn those facts,” Bowman said. “That’s why I’ve gone to great lengths to find out.”

Chipman said that as a result of the repeated allegations of improper involvement, he is putting his project on hold and will need to redevelop trust with city hall before it will proceed.

Chipman conceded that he only learned of the availability of the 220 Carlton site – which CentreVenture bought – because he was a member of the CentreVenture board, but he added he recused himself from any discussions about True North’s bid for the property and then later resigned completely.

Chipman said he included the 220 Carlton property as part of his greater downtown development as a benefit to the city and refuses to consider he was given an advantage to get the property that other developers were not.

Later, CentreVenture’s chairman Curt Vossen said the downtown agency opted to deal with True North rather than see if any other developer was interested in the property.

Vossen said he knew that several hotel operators had approached Stuart Olson with interest in 220 Carlton but he said CentreVenture didn’t approach them because the agency didn’t think they were interested in the property.

Chipman said city council’s demand that CentreVenture open up 220 Carlton St. to other developers contravenes the option True North signed on the land on Sept. 24. He said no lawsuit is in the works, however.

“This is not a threat,” Chipman said.

Chipman said True North signed that option in good faith and rejected any assertion it had an unfair advantage.

Bowman said he remains concerned CentreVenture did not make 220 Carlton St. available to other potential buyers and repeated his assertion CentreVenture has placed the city in a precarious legal position by signing the option while Stuart Olson remained obligated to build on that site.

Chipman said he does not regret supporting Bowman’s 2014 mayoral run, but does regret doing so in public. Bowman said this saddened him, but asserted his professional obligation to Winnipeggers trumps his personal relationships.

The True North development would involve office space, retail space, a hotel, the public square, residential housing and new skywalks.

Chipman said the plans also include the possibility of building a new headquarters for Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries ‎and confirmed True North responded to a request for proposals from the Crown corporation.

Bowman is in Toronto to attend the Big City Mayor’s conference.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca