St. Boniface industrial revolution

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This article was published 26/09/2019 (2219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Calgary-based developer’s goal of turning 165 acres of industrial land in St. Boniface into the city’s next great neighbourhood will be evaluated Monday, when the city’s property and development committee reviews its secondary plan.

In 2016, for a little under $10 million, a numbered company including Olexa Developments purchased the plot of land — stretching between Marion and Archibald streets and abutted by the CN Sprague and Emerson rail lines to the east and west — with the intent to develop it into an urban “village,” replete with high- and medium-density housing, pedestrian-geared retail options and light-industrial or commercial business space.

After two years of community consultation and planning, the project will face the scrutiny of the committee, with the developer hoping to be able to break ground by August 2020.

The land, which had served as the base of the Union Stockyards and later the Canada Packers meat plant, was acquired by the city in the 1990s through a series of direct acquisitions and tax sales.

Later, the plot was purchased by Canad Inns as a potential site for a new Blue Bombers stadium, and once that plan proved fruitless, it was designated as a major redevelopment site by the city. It remains zoned M3, or heavy industrial.

Olexa is working to change that, said Robert Scaletta, the company’s development manager and an executive with local real estate company Shindico.

“We’ve had over eight stakeholder meetings with the community and residents,” Scaletta said.

Their main request? “Don’t put industrial there,” he said with a laugh.

Scaletta said that’s not what the developer wants either.

“We’d like to create a village here, so we’d like the community to give their input first, and we didn’t think it would be the best use for the land,” he said.

To Scaletta, that would be a new residential-commercial hub, with a focus on multi-family homes, affordable housing and local retail — not box stores or factories. The company’s plan, he said, is to eventually establish as many as 1,400 residential units — made up of mid- and highrise apartments and townhouses, with no single-family residences going in.

“You’re not going to find $800,000 condos here,” he said. “You’re going to have affordable living.”

Certain grants the developers are applying for require at least 10 per cent of all units to be designated as affordable housing, he added.

Another key step moving forward, as evidenced from stakeholder feedback, was the need to establish the neighbourhood as a pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly one, emphasizing active transportation throughout.

One idea is a walking path throughout the entire development, he said, and a large community garden is also in the works.

Since 2008, the Albertan company has developed 150 acres of Winnipeg property in CentrePort, Scaletta said, an investment of close to $100 million.

Inspiration for the plan came in part from Calgary’s East Village, a neighbourhood Scaletta said rose from a “brownfield site” to become one of that city’s most sought-after and dynamic zones.

It’s Olexa’s hope the development will attract students and single adults as well as retirees looking to downsize, especially given its relative proximity to the city’s major universities and the downtown.

So far, Scaletta said, support for the development has been near-unanimous, from residents and politicians alike. If the review of the secondary development plan goes as the company hopes, the executive policy committee and then city council will facilitate the next steps of approval.

As for a name for the development, the city currently refers to the site as the Public Markets, but Scaletta said Olexa has reached out to residents to come up with a new moniker — something a little less industrial.

“I’m still waiting,” he said.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca