Engagement builds Whyte Ridge growth

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/04/2024 (552 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the Ridge Apartments in southwest Winnipeg conducted its community consultation 12 years ago, a large contingent of the area’s population voiced their displeasure about adding 84 rental units to the neighbourhood.

Last fall, Nigel Furgus went through the same consultation rounds for Paragon Living’s latest development that will be built down the street and the idea was well-received.

The 2.71-acre site for the $100-million Whyte Ridge Estates development at 25 and 50 Post St. went through rezoning without opposition in October 2023.

“People now, their mindsets have changed,” said Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West), who has supported the project. “It’s like night and day.”

The hulking seven-storey apartment complex will inject 228 rental units into a Whyte Ridge community that has seen 30 per cent population growth over the last four years.

Three additional three-storey buildings will be built on the south side of the property, behind the apartment block, where 52 rental townhouse units will rest.

“We wanted to soften the density as we got closer to the single-family residential homes (to the south),” said Furgus, president of Paragon. “So, what we did was reduced the height of those to three stories and we also turned them away so the buildings are actually turned sideways so they’re not imposing on the singly-family residential units behind us.”

Nearly $2 million in infrastructure upgrades must be done before Paragon can break ground on the project — a bill Furgus is required to foot.

Upgrades include revamping the stretch of McGillivray Boulevard from Post Street to Kenaston Boulevard to include a dedicated left-turning lane, adding pathways for pedestrians, installing a 600-metre sewage pipe and converting Post Street from a gravel road to a concrete road.

“We talked about infrastructure upgrades and the roadblocks that can pose to developers and this was a prime example of that,” said Furgus, who will not receive a tax break or any government funding for the construction costs.

Lukes expressed frustration for developers who are required to shell out large sums of cash for infrastructure changes that should be covered by some level of government.

“Are we behind in building all these big pieces of infrastructure? One hundred per cent. But when you open the floodgates to people and you don’t have a supporting plan, this is what happens.”– Coun. Janice Lukes

“Herein lies the challenge to federal government immigration policies. We need immigration — we want immigration — for 101 reasons, but while they’re dumping all this money into housing, which is wonderful, you still need to flush the toilet,” Lukes said.

“Where are the community centres? What about the sewer treatment plant? Where are the schools? I’m talking bigger picture in all of this.

“Are we behind in building all these big pieces of infrastructure? One hundred per cent. But when you open the floodgates to people and you don’t have a supporting plan, this is what happens.”

The city recently provided an update on its regional recreation facility slated to be built on Bison Drive. The project will cost an extra $23 million than what it originally estimated due to construction costs soaring since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rec centre — which is part of a broader project that also includes a provincial daycare and vocational building — is now estimated to cost $94 million. The facility was scheduled to open sometime in 2025.

The campus will feature three gymnasiums, a walking/running track, fitness areas, multi-purpose rooms and a spray pad in its first phase. A community library, leisure pool and hockey arena could be added if additional funding and projects are approved.

Lukes also shared the City of Winnipeg will begin building a new fire station on Bison Run this fall.

Construction on a modular (temporary) station will begin next week and open in October. The new fire hall in Waverley West, set to open in 2026, will be an amalgamation of Station 9 (864 Marion St.) and Station 15 (1083 Autumnwood Dr.).

Once the new station opens, the modular facility will be relocated for the city to continue its larger plan of fire and paramedic upgrades across Winnipeg.

Improvements to the area are welcomed by Furgus, who said Paragon has taken a liking to the southwest quadrant of the city.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Business Weekly

Monday Mornings

The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week.

Sign up for Business Weekly

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

The gracious reception for Whyte Ridge Estates hardly came as a surprise to him.

He said the city has become more receptive to developments when the developer is more conscious of the neighbourhood and that’s the model he will continue to follow for future projects.

“What I’m finding is the developments that are successful are the ones where you’re engaging the communities, the councillors and the neighbourhoods in the process and we’re finding a lot of success in the process versus the area,” Furgus said.

Whyte Ridge Estates will break ground in the fall and is projected to open for possession in May 2026.

joshua.frey-sam@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.