Downtown hotel listed for sale; residents get eviction notices

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/02/2023 (927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Windsor Hotel has been listed for sale.

A tenant and patrons of the downtown hotel and bar said it had been sold and that the long-term tenants of the Garry Street building had been given eviction notices, but would not speak to reporters on the record.

A Colliers International vice-president, listed on an online for sale notice for the hotel, would not confirm if the property had been sold when reached by phone Thursday, asking the Free Press to call back in a month’s time when he could offer further details.

In the notice, it’s listed for $2.5 million, as “an opportunity to acquire the fee simple interest in a 22,800 (square foot), 43 room full service hotel, strategically located at Garry Street and St. Mary Avenue in downtown Winnipeg with 43 parking stalls.”

“This prime downtown site offers prospective purchasers an exciting re-development investment opportunity,” the notice reads.

A former tenant, who moved out about eight months ago, said he’s been trying to help the current occupants find new places to live.

“They’ve been told to leave, and most of these people don’t have (anywhere) to go,” said Ivan Mayhan, 55, standing outside the hotel.

He estimated about 20 people live at the Windsor. He wasn’t sure when the tenants were told they had to leave, though he first heard about it around a month ago. He said he doesn’t know when the eviction notices will be enforced.

Main Street Project, a shelter and service provider for people experiencing homelessness, alerted media to the potential purchase of the hotel and eviction of its tenants in an email Thursday, but its development director did not respond to requests by phone for further comment.

Workers from the service provider were seen going in and out of the hotel Thursday.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera