Vacant Main Street hotel with ‘sordid, dark history’ up for sale for $2.8M

A long-standing and troubled Main Street hotel is up for sale, months after the City of Winnipeg ordered it to be vacated due to safety concerns.

A listing for the Manwin Hotel at 655 Main was posted online Friday, with an asking price of $2.8 million.

The 143-year-old building — plagued by drug use and violence over the years, including four homicides between 2017 and 2023 — was subject to a vacate order in January amid multiple outstanding permit requirements and compliance orders.

Property owner Akim Kambamba appealed the order, but city council’s property and development committee upheld the decision during a hearing in February. The committee heard city officials visited the hotel in person more than 100 times over several years, with repeated warnings and fines doing little to resolve issues.

“I would assume that the ruling at (property and development) probably forced the hand of the current owner to decide what was going to be done with the Manwin,” committee chair Coun. Evan Duncan said by phone Saturday.

“He’s made the decision, by the sounds of it, to put it up for sale. I’m glad the property might have a fresh start now.”

The two-storey, wood frame and brick veneer structure spans 10,712 square feet, with nine bathrooms and 36 rooms, according to its listing.

Listing agent Brad Gross said the Manwin’s owner was “appalled” when his tenants were ordered to vacate the property in the winter.

“The owner was doing his part, he was playing ball and then basically they forced his hand and now he’s got to try to recoup some of his money he’s put into the building,” Gross said.

Asked about the listing price, Gross said it was determined based on market value for similar properties in the area.

St. Boniface Street Links executive director Marion Willis scoffed at the evaluation.

“I don’t think anybody is going to buy it for that amount of money,” said Willis, who was familiar with the state of the property before it was shuttered.

“It’s just been such a problematic building with such a problematic story.”

Willis acknowledged she is not a professional contractor but questioned whether the Manwin can be repaired.

“The building has such a sordid and dark history that perhaps it’s time for it to be demolished and for us to think about what a good land use plan would be for that lot,” she said.

Gross expects the Manwin will continue to operate as low-income housing because it is located near several organizations that provide social services, he said.

Main Street Project is next door to the property, while the Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope and Siloam Mission are blocks away.

The right buyer is likely a non-profit organization that specializes in meeting the needs of vulnerable tenants, Gross said.

About $100,000 has already been spent hiring architects to prepare development plans. The work required to bring the Manwin back up to code is expected to total up to $450,000, he added.

“I’m not in the real estate business, but if I were to look at it, at first glance, it’s probably a tough sell. But, ideally, if we can have some housing there and that housing comes with supports… I’d be happy to see something like that happen,” Duncan said of the property.

The councillor said the sale could present an opportunity for the Main Street Project, which is looking to build a housing development at 673 Main St.

“But, you never know. Somebody could come in there and look at the property as just that, a property, and not a housing opportunity, and build something completely different. We’ll see. Maybe he might not get any offers and then we’re stuck with yet another abandoned, derelict building,” Duncan said.

Gross, whose listing portfolio includes numerous vacant and derelict properties, believes municipal bureaucracy makes it difficult to salvage and sell such buildings.

“The biggest thing is just getting everybody on the same page… I deal with a lot of clients, and that’s the problem with the city, they don’t work with you, they work against you,” Gross said.

“It’s too risky to develop a house, or even a building, that’s vacant for a while because of all the permits that you need.”

Willis said the conditions inside the Manwin were unsafe, but she chided city officials for vacating the building without first connecting its tenants with suitable housing.

The Free Press reported in February that about 12 people remained in the building when Kambamba’s final appeal was rejected and the building was vacated. Around 20 others moved out when the order was first issued.

Many of the former tenants returned to encampments or stayed in shelters, Willis said.

“The treatment of the people who were living there was unfair and unjust. These are people, regardless of how they were living,” she said. “We didn’t do enough, in my view, to ensure that people didn’t just simply return to homelessness.”

Duncan previously said concerns about displacing vulnerable people during the winter were considered, but the building’s condition warranted the decision.

“I’m glad this saga is over because we’ve lost so many people there,” said community advocate Barb Guimond, who organized a rally calling for the Manwin to be closed in 2023.

“I’m just happy that it’s being sold and this is the end of the Manwin.”

Guimond said she has been keeping an eye on the building over the past several weeks, fearing desperate people might sneak inside.

She would like to see the property transformed into a women’s shelter or transitional housing, she said.

The Free Press connected with Kambamba briefly by phone on Saturday, but the call was disconnected after a reporter identified himself.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca