City to consider apartment projects replacing vacant lots, derelict properties in Elmwood, St. Boniface, West End

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This article was published 02/04/2024 (538 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A six-storey building with 99 new residential units could replace a vacant convenience store in East Elmwood.

The proposed mixed-used structure at 1131 Nairn Ave. would also include street-level commercial space and an underground parking structure, if the project is approved by city council.

“When you look at what our city needs to do, we need a lot of (housing) units.… So when we look for opportunities to accommodate new units, we should be looking, in my opinion, on the corridors that can accommodate them and key places… where we can do density without much difficulty,” said Donovan Toews, managing partner at Landmark Planning and Design.

“This is one of them, so it’s a really exciting, good project.”

A city report recommends approval to rezone the site from a commercial corridor to a residential-mixed-use zone to allow the plans to move ahead.

Toews said there are multiple ways the project aligns with City of Winnipeg infill and housing policies, since residents would be close to businesses, bus routes and other housing.

“This (building would be)… sort of sitting in a perfect spot,” he said.

A city report also suggests the design is suited to the area.

“Multiple access points to the street for pedestrians, active ground floor uses, and substantial landscaping all contribute to a vibrant pedestrian environment. The location is (also) well served by the primary transit network,” the report notes.

The building would offer 115 parking stalls, 14 indoor bicycle parking spaces, six outdoor bicycle parking spaces and an exercise area, as well as direct pedestrian connections to Nairn Avenue and Stapleton Street.

It would replace a former 7-Eleven convenience store.

Toews said one or more businesses could set up on its first floor.

Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) said the plans look encouraging.

“Any time you can have mixed-use development on a corridor that allows for the same vibrancy of the storefront at level… and then residences over top, for me, as both the chair of property and development and a local councillor, that’s a good day. That’s something we like to see,” said Rollins.

The application is one of a few housing projects that will soon be considered at city hall.

Other proposed projects include a six-storey building with 127 housing units to replace a vacant lot at 366 Marion St. and two other properties. A seven-storey, 102-unit apartment complex would replace a derelict home, a shuttered business and two other homes at 126 to 140 Sherbrook St.

Both of those buildings would also have commercial space on the first floor.

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Rollins said she’d like to see more proposed residential projects, as there is a need for every type of housing — the type of development she fears may be hindered by tough economic conditions.

“I want to see more applications in the city and I’m working hard to do what I can to get that done,” she said.

The Nairn, Marion and Sherbrook projects will soon go before city committees.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.