From parking lot to ‘unique’ community

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/03/2024 (625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New housing at The Forks is on track for summer construction, its CEO says.

Temporary fences are to enclose hundreds of current parking spots this summer; shovels could hit the ground by early fall. Eventually, the space may house 500 residents.

“It’s going to be an instrumental change,” The Forks North Portage Partnership chief executive Sara Stasiuk said, minutes after sharing Railside at The Forks plans at a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday.

The project is a big step for downtown revitalization, proponents say.

Stasiuk highlighted 10 buildings — nine apartment blocks and one condominium — to be erected across from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, between the Citytv office building and York Avenue. Currently, two surface parking lots fill the space.

Each residential structure will stand four to six storeys high. Restaurants and shops are slated to cover 50,000 square feet of ground-floor space; The Forks anticipates 337 residential units to be built.

It is the first of two phases planned.

“They’re not very big buildings,” Stasiuk noted. “What they enable us to do is build a great amount of public space.”

Two courtyards will fit inside the first phase. Apartments, to be angled to block wind, will create “micro-climates,” Stasiuk said. “We can extend the season of lounging around outside.”

The Railside project is a 20-year vision. The new apartments may be open for tenants in 2026.

For now, the only physical evidence of Railside at The Forks is fire hydrants populating the parking lots.

“We spent a couple million dollars to get them there,” Stasiuk joked.

Railside won’t have curbs or sidewalks, to promote accessibility, Stasiuk told the crowd Thursday. The development has a net-zero approach to heating and cooling, following The Forks’ current geothermal system.

At least $150 million has been poured into Railside’s first phase. Private investment covers more than $130 million.

“This is truly a unique development,” Stasiuk said.

It is one many years in the making — “targeted” discussions started in 2013, and in 2017, Winnipeg city council approved the project’s plan.

Since then, seven developers have signed on to create properties. Most are private businesses. The University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation 2.0 — which heads downtown projects such as Market Lands and West Broadway Commons — is slated to be a builder.

The Forks plans to erect a residence of its own. It’s currently searching for an architect.

Railside “can’t be a place just for rich people,” Stasiuk told reporters. “It has to be a place that serves our community. We want to see if we can do something that is a little bit more accessible.”

The Forks seeks to build affordable housing and rent-geared-to-income suites; it’s applying to various grants for funding, Stasiuk added.

She envisions Railside to host 24-7 activity — people going to an all-hours gym or convenience store, for example. A potential grocery store hasn’t been set in stone, however.

“It’s certainly top of our list,” Stasiuk said. “We know that we need services in order to attract people to live here.”

Property owners, such as the UWCRC 2.0, will choose what businesses operate on their ground floors. However, The Forks can nix proposed companies who don’t align “with The Forks feel.”

Stasiuk didn’t express concern about parking. The “couple hundred” of spaces lost are a mere sliver of the thousands available in the area, she said.

Phase 2, which crosses York Avenue, doesn’t yet have a construction date.

“Ultimately, what’s going to make our downtown more successful is more feet on the street,” said Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg chamber.

Residential growth at The Forks will, by extension, contribute to growth in Winnipeg’s core, Remillard added. If Railside draws tenants and visitors, companies will set up shop: “business goes where the market is.”

The Forks clocked 3.8 million visitors in 2023, according to Stasiuk. The number includes repeat attendees and people who work in the area.

Even so, the number triples Manitoba’s population.

“To be a place where people want to be, we have to do exciting stuff,” Stasiuk said, noting 11 vendors at The Forks cleared upwards of $1 million in sales each last year.

The Forks has experienced more consistent visitation since COVID-19 pandemic-era restrictions lifted, Stasiuk added.

A change is happening in Manitoba, stated Michael Benarroch, president of the University of Manitoba, at the Winnipeg chamber luncheon. He highlighted the Globe and Mail’s recent coverage of Winnipeg as one of Canada’s most livable cities.

“These things are happening because of the partnerships that we’re building,” Benarroch told the crowd of roughly 400.

Once complete, Railside at The Forks should have housing for roughly 2,000, by current projections.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com