City, developer compromise on size of Osborne Village housing development

A compromise has paved the way for an Osborne Village housing development to proceed at a reduced height.

This week, a final appeal committee decision removed parking and affordable-rent requirements that a developer feared could kill the project.

“We’ll lower the building, reduce the height and that was the compromise…. We’ve been looking to advance something on here. It’s been a vacant lot for quite some time,” said planner John Wintrup.

Wintrup said the final plan is something property owner Jerry Cianflone, who owns the Pizza Hotline chain, can accept.

The development proposal initially called for a seven-storey, 72-unit building to be constructed at 36 Roslyn Rd., where the former John C. Falls heritage building once stood.

In 2022, the city removed a heritage protection from that building after learning it had fallen into such disrepair that it would cost millions to renovate. That allowed the structure, which was built in 1907, to be demolished.

The developer successfully appealed a city centre community committee decision, which had voted to cap the project to 44 housing units and require half to have affordable rents. That decision also required 43 parking spots, instead of the proposed 21, as well as larger yards around the property.

On Wednesday, city council’s appeal committee cast a final vote to approve 44 total units with smaller yards, no requirement for affordable housing and 21 parking stalls.

The change will result in a five- or six-storey building that will produce less income than the initial plan but should still work, said Wintrup.

The city’s previous parking and affordable-housing requirements would have prevented the project from being viable, he said.

“They wanted half our units to be affordable and we’ve had no dialogue with the Province of Manitoba on (subsidies to support that). And they wanted… part of the parking to go underground, so you would have had an affordable dwelling unit subsidized by the province with an underground parking stall. I can’t see why a government would be funding… that,” he said.

Since the final vote allows smaller yards, the building can cover more land while still providing enough parking space, said Wintrup.

Coun. Janice Lukes, who served as chairwoman of the appeal hearing, said the compromise allows more housing to be constructed where the city hopes to attract it.

“They are in a zoned high-density area with stellar transit… (and) it optimizes the space,” said Lukes (Waverley West).

While the city has worked to attract construction of more affordable homes, other types of housing are also needed, she said.

“We can’t force people to (build) affordable housing. Affordable housing only occurs when it’s subsidized. These (projects have) small profit margins,” said Lukes.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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