Tower-ing opportunity in St. Boniface

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This article was published 16/07/2023 (831 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More than 22 years after the former Canada Packers building in St. Boniface was blown to a pile of rubble — and countless failed attempts at redeveloping the 165-acre site on which it resided since — plans to resurrect the massive plot of urban land are finally underway.

The Water Tower District, a mixed-use development that was initially proposed in 2019, will bring 70 acres of industrial land, 21 acres of commercial development and 25 acres of multi-family residential blocks to Winnipeg by 2033.

The project is estimated to cost anywhere from $800 million to $1 billion to erect, along with $25 million in infrastructure costs.

The “light-to-medium” industrial development, which is estimated to bring nearly one million square feet of new space to a city that owns few vacancies in the industrial sector, is the largest plot of employment land in Winnipeg and is expected to create more than 700 job opportunities.

“This is what we want to highlight,” said Robert Scaletta, senior vice-president of industrial properties for Shindico and development manager for Olexa Developments, a Calgary-based development firm that owns the land. “This will be shovel-ready — we’re close to transportation routes via Speers (Road) to Lagimodiere (Boulevard) to No. 1 highway.”

The 165-acre site, purchased by Canad Inns in 2007 with the intention of building a new football stadium before Olexa purchased it in 2016, is bracketed by Marion and Archibald streets and Dawson Road. The land was occupied by livestock-related companies such as Canada Packers and Swifts and Union Stockyards for more than 80 years before Canada Packers vacated its building in 1987.

The old plant remained vacant for 14 years and was viewed as an eyesore by many area residents before the city approved a $1.5-million demolition in 2000 that was completed in 2001, leaving a water tower and powerhouse that were designated as historic buildings.

The Water Tower District is based on the principles of the 15-minute city, with 22 acres of land dedicated to community gardens, recreation and pathways and a 12-acre retail node on Marion. The 25 acres of multi-family development will create more than 1,200 rental residential units, and Scaletta said he’s pushing for more.

“And we’re four kilometres from downtown,” he said. “We also have public transit. When we first started development, we met with transit. So they’re going to be routing their transit system right through here.

“Everything’s within a 15-minute bike, walk or bus ride. So if you need to get downtown, you need to go shopping, you need to go to the park, you need to go to work — because we have employment lands right there — everything is right there.”

Construction on the district’s internal roads is already underway and expected to be complete by the end of September.

Scaletta said construction on industrial buildings will begin by the end of the year and take about a year to complete. Multi-family development will break ground in early 2024 with the hope tenants can begin moving in sometime in 2025.

“It’s a pure infill development,” Scaletta said.

“(Residents) have seen this land sit there for 30 years, going, ‘When is this going to get developed?’”

Scaletta also estimated the Water Tower District will generate $5 million of net new tax dollars for the City of Winnipeg.

“It’s excellent news for people in St. Boniface and for Winnipeggers,” said Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface). “Not many people know how municipal taxes work, but this development will be increasing the total value of our lands that — it’ll bring in net new value for our lands, basically new ratepayers to the city of Winnipeg.

“So from a fiscal perspective, it’s excellent because it grows the tax base, reducing the tax burden.”

Allard, who said the project has been well-received by area residents and stakeholders, explained one of the key advantages to the light-to-medium industrial development is it will create a “buffer zone between what’s M3 industrial and the commercial and residential application.”

M3 zoning is operations that create smells, dust and loud sound.

“Many residents in the area — I think — want to see the use in the surrounding area transition toward less intensive industrial uses,” Allard said.

“I think that does lock this piece of land down into less intense industrial uses and creates a buffer between the residential and the industrial while still providing new industrial opportunities, new commercial opportunities and perhaps most importantly, a whole lot of new residents in St. Boniface.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca