Density pilot ‘kills this project’ if mandated, developer says

A vacant lot where an Osborne Village heritage building once stood might remain empty if the city insists on forcing developers to make half of the suites affordable and add additional parking spots.

John Wintrup and Jerry Cianflone, the owner of the Pizza Hotline chain, are proposing to build an eight-storey, 72-unit apartment building at 36 Roslyn Rd. and Bryce Street, where the John C. Falls House formerly stood.

The house, built in 1907 in the Queen Anne Revival style, was demolished by the city in 2022 when it was determined it would take millions of dollars to renovate it.

The developers of the site have been told that for the city to agree to increase the portion of the lot needed for the building to be constructed, they must agree to install 43 parking spots instead of the 21 they proposed. In addition, the city said, half of the units must be designated as affordable.

Wintrup and Cianflone say they’ll appeal the restrictions at a hearing later this month.

“If they come forward and mandate this, this kills this project,” Wintrup said Friday, saying adding additional parking would involve digging to create underground stalls.

“Mandating 50 per cent of it (affordable), while requiring underground parking, kills this project. The lot will stay vacant… How can we have underground parking when someone is getting an affordable dwelling unit?

“The numbers don’t work.”

Wintrup said it might make sense if the project was seeking government funding to help build it, but this one is being entirely paid for by the developer.

“I don’t think the provincial government would fund underground parking,” he said.

Coun. Evan Duncan, chairman of the civic property committee, said the project appears to have fallen under the city’s residential density bonus pilot program.

He said the program, which council approved in December 2023, allows developers to apply for more density than permitted on a site in return for agreeing to make many of the units affordable.

It might be time for councillors to review the pilot, Duncan said.

“It might be great for affordable housing, but as a developer, it might not make sense,” he said.

“At the end of the day, there’s room for this pilot project to direct developers to build affordable units, but this is not one of those projects. I would think (the pilot program) will be reviewed soon. Maybe there are too many deficiencies which don’t make sense, and this may be a glaring example of why it doesn’t apply.”

Christina Maes Nino, executive director of the Manitoba Non-Profit Housing Association, said affordable housing is desperately needed in the city and the best way to get it is by funding non-profits to build it.

She said developers make money on projects, and if that is because the city has agreed to waive or amend zoning rules to assist, it should get something in return.

“The city shouldn’t be giving away density for free,” Maes Nino said.

“When the city gives developers reduced parking and increased density, we think it should be tied to affordable units. But, if the project doesn’t go ahead, it doesn’t help, so we also need to be reasonable.”

Wintrup said regardless of the city’s decision, tenants won’t be moving in any time soon.

“We should be starting this spring and opening it in 18 months, but we’re not any closer to starting construction,” he said.

“It causes us concern, but also confusion — it’s just up in the air. We would be hoping to get a building permit, but we’re going to miss the entire construction season.

“That doesn’t help the housing crisis at all.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca