Getting pumped

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2023 (871 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The redevelopment of the James Avenue Pumphouse has been a taxing process, one that’s left a sour taste in the mouths of some about the prospects of undertaking a similar endeavour in the future. But those at Alston Properties will soon enjoy the fruit of their labours, as the third and final phase of the latest facelift in the East Exchange District is expected to wrap up this summer.

Pumphouse West, a $12 million six-storey, 65-unit multi-use block with 1,600 square feet of commercial space that stands beside the former James Avenue Pumping Station is expected to open for occupancy on Sept. 1.

“It’s been a challenging project in every facet,” said Bryce Alston, director of Alston Properties, which acquired the historic property in 2016.

“The construction itself is very difficult, the integration of the heritage building with proximity to the new builds presented many challenges. There’s a number of alternative solutions to the building code for all three phases, which just created complications. There were extended timelines associated with permitting — yeah, it’s just been tough.”

Alston Properties was the team to finally get the wheels in motion on a redevelopment plan after 17 failed attempts to revive the historic building, including one in 2013 that proposed a slender, 24-storey steel-and-glass tower that rose from the centre of the building.

Before receiving its first permit in the spring of 2017, Alston Properties expected its three-phase redevelopment would take a little over four years to complete. By the time Pumphouse West is complete, it will have been 6 1/2 years.

“Would I do it again? Probably not. It’s just been a drain, to be honest. It’s just exhausting,” Alston said.

The first phase of the plan was a renovation of the pumphouse, which added office and retail space to the upper level of the building in the summer of 2017. In September 2020, Pumphouse East, a 28-unit high-end apartment block, was erected.

Now Pumphouse West brings 60 one-bedroom units and five two-bedroom units into the fold. Within the property, 10 units will be deemed affordable, with rents about $1,100 per month, while the remaining one-bedroom suites are priced at $1,350 per month and the two-bedroom dwellings at $1,800 per month. All utilities and high-speed internet are included with each rate.

Alston explained the developers were fortunate not to incur too much blowback from the pandemic, aside from some issues with sourcing building supplies and some well-documented price increases on materials during Phase Three.

They also delivered Pumphouse East at the height of the pandemic, with which Alston conceded they “got a bit lucky,” being that it was only 28 units added to a rental market that was in flux at the time.

“There wasn’t much new supply in the Exchange District at all, so we hit the market in a period of absence of supply with 28 rental units that were extremely uniquely positioned and very boutique. So we didn’t worry about the absorption of that at all during COVID.

“Heading into the summer and finishing off Phase 3, I don’t think there’s any concern with absorbing the 65 units. We will be completing around the same time as (the Bend) at 90 Alexander (Ave.) and they’ve got 206 units, so it is actually quite a bit of new rental supply in one area to bring on. But this rental market now is the strongest rental market I’ve seen since I’ve been here in nine years.”

David Pensato, executive director of the Exchange District BIZ, echoes Alston’s sentiments.

“It speaks to the demand for the kind of neighbourhood that the exchange is becoming,” Pensato said. “It’s something that we’ve talked about with people a fair bit over the last few years, that the Exchange District really fills a lack in the Winnipeg marketplace in terms of a type of neighbourhood lifestyle.

“Almost every other big city has their urban-living core with all the shops and services, and often they are heritage-type areas of the downtown, and I think there’s a real hunger for that type of lifestyle and the Exchange District is soaking it up.”

The James Avenue Pumphouse “unlocked a fair bit in the East Exchange” after the building lay lifeless for years, Pensato said. It appears the effort put forth by Alston and his group could pay mass dividends in an area that looks poised to boom.

“It’s been a slow simmering growth, but I think we’re at a pretty big tipping point. I think you’re going to see a lot more development, not just in the East Exchange, but across the Exchange District,” Pensato said.

Added Alston about adding residential units near a city centre still working back from the pandemic: “We just believed in that area in general. The East Exchange, in my opinion, is the best residential node in the entire downtown area, and you could already see the momentum that was building there. The city and province made numerous investments in the area.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca