City breaks ground on CentrePort South, work slated to start in 2025

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This article was published 09/08/2024 (411 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The shovel plot was a small mound of dirt. It stood, however, for the beginning of an 1,800-acre development in northwest Winnipeg.

On Friday, Mayor Scott Gillingham turned soil on CentrePort South, alongside politicians and stakeholders. Gillingham expects construction to begin later this year.

The vision includes 500 acres of residential and 1,100 acres of industrial space. The Perimeter Highway runs to CentrePort South’s west; King Edward Street borders it to the east.

It follows a build-up of CentrePort real estate in the Rural Municipality of Rosser.

The City of Winnipeg estimates residential and industrial projects will start next year. For now, tenders are out for sewage and water infrastructure.

“We’ve been talking about this, the needed investment, for many, many years,” Gillingham said.

The city tabbed $34 million for the first phase of CentrePort South, an inflation-related jump from its initial $21 million. The province announced $40 million for the project in 2022.

To speed up growth, the city has created a team to work alongside CentrePort developers, Gillingham detailed Friday.

“We want to make it easier for those who are investing,” the mayor said, adding developers won’t “jump through many hoops” with various city departments.

Representatives from Winnipeg’s water and waste, planning, property and development, public works and economic development branches will amalgamate in the team.

Matt Dryburgh, Winnipeg senior manager of economic development, will lead the group.

Gillingham said he’s open to trying the team model in future Winnipeg developments. Already, the city has a “concierge service” for non-profits building multi-family housing through the housing accelerator fund.

“I’m really excited about the strong message this sends,” CentrePort Canada president Carly Edmundson said of the new team.

It’ll be a couple years before buildings are erected; the team is a proactive step, Edmundson stated.

“That’s a really good message to the market that we’re ready to facilitate … investment. There’s no such thing as getting on that stuff too early.”

Already, investors are showing interest in the land, Edmundson said.

Manufacturers and firms heavily into distribution are eyeing property. So are homebuilders, Edmundson added.

Housing for 8,000 to 12,000 people is slated for the area. Retail services will be needed too, Edmundson said.

CentrePort has been a boon for investment: over the past five years, the inland port has seen more than $750 million in development permits.

Two-hundred companies have invested in CentrePort in the last five years, said Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor.

CentrePort has three million square feet of construction ongoing and completed.

“Rosser has done a very good job of making it much easier for developers to invest there,” Gillingham said. “This is really not about competition between Winnipeg and Rosser. We should be, as a city, continuing to learn from those who do it well.”

The Winnipeg Airports Authority is building a $120-million air cargo facility spanning 140,500 sq. ft. in CentrePort’s Winnipeg side. The project is expected to create around 110 jobs.

“We’re really invested in doing this and growing and building with the community,” Tyler MacAfee, WAA vice-president of external affairs, said in a speech Friday. “This is an exciting day for the airport, exciting day for our city.”

In 2022, a city report estimated a 30-year plan to extend water and sewer service to the region, called Airport Area West, could spark up to 16,000 full-time jobs. The report predicted full development would generate $129 million in annual tax revenue for the federal government, $107 million for the province and $80 million for the city.

Airport Area West, which encompasses part of CentrePort, has seven land development phases within a 30- to 50-year horizon, according to city spokesman David Driedger. Water and sewer infrastructure should come to the area in three phases.

Between Winnipeg and Rosser, CentrePort covers 20,000 acres; it’s considered one of North America’s biggest trimodal inland ports. It is a foreign trade zone with truck, rail and air cargo operations.

CentrePort continues developing its rail park on the north side, connecting businesses to Canadian Pacific Railway’s main line northwest of Winnipeg.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com