McMillan House marches on

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This article was published 05/02/2018 (2835 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After a battle with a city community committee, a local development company is set to break ground on a new luxury condominium complex in Crescentwood next month.

The building is a 12-unit, four-storey, high-end complex, set to go up on vacant property at the corner of Harrow Street and McMillan Avenue.

Breaking ground on the project was more difficult than expected for Winnipeg’s Ventura Developments.

Despite city planners giving the project their blessing, the infill development was opposed by area councillor, John Orlikow (River Heights — Fort Garry).

In November 2016, a city community committee, of which Orlikow was a member, rejected the proposed project.

Opposition to the plan confused not only Ventura, but also Coun. Janice Lukes and Mike Moore, then-president of the Manitoba Home Builders’ Association — both told the Free Press at the time they were surprised by the decision.

“Our original application was denied, but we appealed the decision through the city’s processes. Council’s decision, which I believe was 11 positive votes for the project, really showed council’s support for infill development,” said Tim Comack, Ventura’s vice-president of development.

Now that the project has been given the green light, Comack says interest has been strong, with five units — all of which are customizable — already sold.

One buyer went so far as to have two units converted into a larger single unit, driving the sale price north of $1 million.

Comack believes that not only is the development unique in terms of the condo projects underway in Winnipeg, but also that their project — named McMillan House — will be a positive addition to the neighbourhood and the city.

“The two homes that were there, that were demolished, were dilapidated. Both got demolition orders from the City of Winnipeg. They were in horrible shape, vacant, unused. I believe one had plywood over the windows,” Comack said.

“Now, we’ll be constructing a much larger building in its place. It’s driving up the assessed value… and will generate far greater taxes for the city. You probably had less than half a million in assessed value, and when we’re done, you’ll have close to $7 million.”

Ideally, before breaking ground on construction, Ventura would like to see 50 per cent of the units sold.

However, given the interest they’ve seen, they’re confident in moving forward with construction even if they don’t hit the 50 per cent mark before March.

“We’re very confident these things will sell. In my opinion, it’s the next Wellington Crescent (condos),” Comack said.

“We believe that with the high-quality specs this building has, it offers a niche not currently available in the Winnipeg market. I believe this is the highest quality new construction building in the city this year.”

Construction is expected to take eight to 10 months. The 12 units will be two-bedroom, two-bathroom condos. The building will also feature private balconies, an elevator and indoor, heated parking.

Every buyer will also get, at no cost, a three hour sit-down with a professional interior designer to go over how they’d like their unit to look.

The building will predominantly be geared for baby boomers looking to downsize, in addition to young professionals.

There are no other buildings like McMillan House in the area, so the project fills a neighbourhood need, Comack said.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe