Future building on history

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This article was published 01/05/2023 (885 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A successful past had given way to strings of calamity that left scars inside the historic building at 138 Portage Ave. East.

Inside the seven-storey Keewayden block, also known as the Crowley building, which housed the Jacob-Crowley Manufacturing Co. beginning in 1928, may only be suited for the grandest visionaries these days.

Rubble still crowds the top floor from a fire that scorched the roof and caved in the elevator shaft in 2019. The flames came during a stretch the building was mostly vacant — aside from squatters who would frequent the property — following a failed attempt to transform it into a boutique hotel in 2017.

Now the 114-year-old building (designated historic in 2017), which has stood lifeless for several years, has a pulse once again, with visions to restore its remarkable past with a multi-family residence.

Mark Buleziuk and his company, Space2Developers (formerly Space2Work), acquired the building in the fall of 2021 out of foreclosure and began laying the plans for a $36-million apartment block.

The East Block Lofts, which got its name after owner Buleziuk noticed many people were unfamiliar that an east side of Portage Avenue exists, is expected to begin construction on a nine-storey 148-unit block by the end of summer.

Space2Developers will add two floors to the existing structure, creating 93 units in the historic building, and erect a new attached building beside it, which will house 55 suites with balconies.

“I liked the location and the way window lines lined up and columns, etcetera,” said Buleziuk, who has a track record for refurbishing historic buildings in Winnipeg’s downtown. “Visually, you could see right away that it was a good candidate for building apartments, based on the experience that we’ve had to date.

“We had just gone through a similar project at 216 (Princess St.). When we had done (Carriage Works Lofts), the intent was to amalgamate three historic buildings but we had experienced a structural failure with one of them that forced us to build a brand new building next door to it. So this really wasn’t that much of a different project.”

The apartment block will house bachelor to two-bedroom options, with prices starting from $1,100 per month. Buleziuk said the blueprint for the project will be 75 per cent complete by May and that he hopes to conduct a two-stage occupancy, filling the existing structure first then the new building at a later date, beginning early in 2025.

Space2Developers is also in the middle of an application process with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. to have 10 per cent of units marked at an “affordable” rate.

Buleziuk said he’s contemplating the idea of installing Winnipeg’s first park-stacking system, which will increase the available parking from 14 to 40 vehicles. Park-stacking systems, which see cars stacked at sub-grade, at-grade and above-grade, are widely successful in big cities like Toronto.

“Part of our development process now is to be able to close it up and clean up. Everything we’re doing now is just clean up and non-structural,” said Buleziuk, who is still in the permitting process for the building. “Eventually, because our design is different than what the previous people were building, we’ll have to remove the elevator core that was there.

“We’re going to try and do our best to maintain the character of the concrete,” he continued. “We want to keep it raw, we’re trying to go with poured concrete, polished floors and give it that loft feeling with a very modern finish.”

Cindy Tugwell, executive director of Heritage Winnipeg, said the organization fought tooth and nail to have the building designated historic in 2017. Upon hearing about the plans for the residential project, she was thrilled.

“It’s no surprise it’s going from hotel to residential living because that is the most sustainable financially, as far as I’m concerned,” said Tugwell.

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“You’re changing the demographics. We want more people to live downtown, a hotel is just come, stay, you’re a visitor. Certainly, we want hotels for visitors, but I think the aggressive stance needs to be to get more and more people to live downtown to make it safer, more viable.”

Tenants will have access to a gym, bike repair shop, rooftop deck with a waterfront view and a wellness room for activities like yoga. Indeed, the future once again appears bright for one of Winnipeg’s most prized buildings.

“We’re trying to stay within a range that puts us at similar to what we’ve been building, but with maybe more of a nicer finish level if we can,” said Buleziuk.

“I think that area and just the way this project is coming together, it’s going to be a nice product.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.