MMF announces purchase of former Wawanesa building

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This article was published 28/09/2023 (733 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Métis Federation is adding another downtown building to its holdings, promising to bring hundreds of workers to Winnipeg’s core.

On Thursday, it announced the purchase — yet to be finalized — of the former Wawanesa Insurance building at 200 Main St.

A roughly 10-minute walk north leads to the old Bank of Montreal, which is currently being transformed into the MMF’s national heritage centre at the intersection of Portage and Main.

“From our perspective, a lot of people are giving up on downtown Winnipeg,” said David Chartrand, the MMF’s president. “All of us have that responsibility (to revitalize it).”

The Métis government will spend more than $21 million on its latest acquisition, Chartrand said.

MMF offices and programs will occupy a majority of the seven-storey building. A culturally focused Red River Métis daycare for children of the 250 staff coming to the office will also be established.

Assiniboine Credit Union, a current tenant, will keep its space.

“I’m hoping (this) helps bring up downtown. I’m sure it will,” Chartrand said.

Staff are mandated to return full-time, which means more lunch traffic for nearby businesses, Chartrand noted.

He expects the building to be “filled up immediately” — as soon as the last Wawanesa Insurance employees leave.

Those staff aren’t permanently leaving downtown; they’ll be returning to the city’s core for work once Wawanesa’s 21-floor, $136 million tower opens early next year (the dollar value is a 2019 estimate).

“We are pleased to find a partner in the MMF,” said Gord Dowhan, Wawanesa Insurance’s chief financial officer.

The two entities have been discussing the transaction for a year. Things “picked up momentum” in the last couple of months, Dowhan said.

“We’ve outgrown our other locations, and we were desperately looking for one,” Chartrand said. “We thought (this) was the perfect building.”

Partially for Wawanesa’s parking spaces, and partially for its proximity to the heritage centre, he continued.

Tenders have been accepted and work is underway on the centre. It should be complete in 2026, Chartrand said.

The site, which has received more than $33 million in government funding, will showcase Métis culture and history.

Chartrand has previously said artifacts, hundreds of Métis history books and the MMF’s self-government agreement will be on display.

“We’re still investing (in downtown),” Chartrand told a crowd Thursday.

He hinted at building a hotel near the former Wawanesa office.

“We’re a very economically-driven government, and we like to take care of ourselves,” Chartrand said. “Our plan in the future is to continue building our economic strength as government.”

He mentioned the Dominion Lands Act of 1872; then, settlers were given property.

Chartrand recalled a speech he’d made years ago: “I said, ‘If we don’t get our land claims agreement settled… we will buy one building or one acre at a time until we get our land back.’”

Investments from Indigenous entities are leading downtown Winnipeg’s transformation, said Kate Fenske, CEO of the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ.

“It’s fantastic,” she stated. “We are seeing economic reconciliation in action.”

Just 1.3 km away, the Southern Chiefs’ Organization continued construction on Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn, the former Hudson’s Bay building.

The SCO is adding 300 affordable housing units, assisted living for elders and a health and healing centre, among other things.

“I think we’re going to see an entirely new downtown five years from now,” Fenske said. “It’s going to be beyond the nine to five.”

Further, Indigenous tourism could be an economic driver for downtown Winnipeg, Fenske added. The culture should be celebrated — and it’s an opportunity to put Winnipeg “on the map,” she said.

The MMF has invested more than $31.3 million in capital acquisitions and developments in Winnipeg since 2019, according to a news release.

It plans to invest $91.2 million in Winnipeg over the next three years. Of the combined $122.5 million, $86.5 million of investment will stay in downtown Winnipeg, the release continues.

The government is building two apartments, comprising 20 suites, in Elmwood for youths transitioning out of Child and Family Services.

It’s constructing a residence, similar to a Ronald McDonald House, on Notre Dame Avenue for Métis families needing hospital services.

The MMF has built nine daycares across Manitoba and has another eight planned, Chartrand said. He expects to see upwards of 750 spots for kids by 2025.

“We want to be in a position where our tax dollars that we pay… are hopefully remedied back to us, so we can continue building,” he said.

Both Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham and New Democrat leader Wab Kinew applauded the announcement from the MMF and Wawanesa Thursday, calling it economic reconciliation.

“Investments like this are critical to the revitalization and the reimagining of Winnipeg’s downtown,” Gillingham said.

Manitoba Liberal leader Dougald Lamont also commended the acquisition. Progressive Conservative leader Heather Stefanson did not attend the announcement but sent her regrets, an emcee told the crowd.

The downtown office was built in 1990. Wawanesa Insurance moved in and renovated the 111,778 sq. ft. space in 2003.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com