Edmundson named new president and CEO of CentrePort Canada Inc.

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This article was published 12/04/2023 (927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Carly Edmundson has been named the new president and CEO of CentrePort Canada Inc., returning to the organization where she’d previously spent six years.

Edmundson takes over from Diane Gray, who stepped down from the leadership position in the fall after running the inland port since its inception in 2008.

Just before Gray’s departure the city and the province committed to investing $60 million to build sewer, water and power infrastructure to allow for the development of another 2,500 acres of CentrePort land west of the airport and subsequent to Gray’s tenure the CentrePort Rail Park received $18 million from the federal government.

So Edmundson’s tenure will mark a very clear new chapter in the project’s development that to date has already attracted hundreds of millions of dollars of investment mostly west of Brookside Boulevard.

The next phase – including the 665 acre CentrePort Rail Park which is being developed by Focus Equities – will concentrate on the western portion of CentrePort’s 20,000 acres footprint.

“I am really thrilled to be back with the team at CentrePort. It is awesome,” Edmundson said. “I have always been a big believer in CentrePort and I have stayed very focused on how the project has been going. I have never lost the passion for it and when this opportunity came up I was very excited.”

For the past four years Edmundson has been executive vice-president at Cushman Wakefield Stevenson, a real estate firm that has had plenty of dealings at CentrePort. That and other private sector experience in her career gives her plenty of perspective on how development works.

“I definitely had a front row seat to all of the different decision points that go into real estate during my time at Cushman,” she said. “In my view business faces enough challenges on a daily basis. I want CentrePort to facilitate investment and development with as much ease as possible.”

One way that has happened in the past at CentrePort is through a Special Planning Authority at the RM of Rosser that has expedited development in Rosser where much of the construction at CentrePort has taken place to date.

One of her early undertakings will be setting up a similar process with the City of Winnipeg where much of the new development will happen.

Kevin Hooke, chairman of CentrePort’s board, said Edmundson is a great choice as successor to Gray.

“She has unmatched qualifications, both having worked at CentrePort and also at Cushman,” said Hooke.

As well, he said the board’s familiarity with her gives the organization in general a comfort level as it embarks on a number of significant new initiatives.

“Getting the south lands serviced was critical. Getting the Rail Park started is critical,” said Hooke. “The next thing we need to do which we think is very import is to create a Special Purpose Agency for the CentrePort south lands so there will be a level playing field with the development in Rosser.”

The Rail Park is expected to break ground some time this spring and the south lands development – which is expected to add about 12,000 new residential units just north of Saskatchewan Avenue – is forecasted to add about $1 billion to the provincial GDP when it is fully built out over the next decade.

The organization now has substantial own-source revenue from land-lease payments from the Rail Park and a growing partnership program.

So Edmundson won’t have to worry about keeping the lights on as Gray did during some of the early years.

“Diane has been a great supporter and a huge influence on me personally and professionally,” Edmundson said. “I am very honoured to be able to take the legacy she built and start to look at the next phase.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca