Riverfront gem coming to city’s northeast

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This article was published 31/07/2017 (3024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Construction is underway on what is being billed as northeast Winnipeg’s first luxury condominiums.

Nineteen/Fourteen the Residences is a five-storey, 23-unit concrete-and-steel complex being built on riverfront property at 1914 Henderson Hwy. The condos include two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 1,234 square feet to 2,402 sq. ft.

Starting prices range from $456,000 for the four smallest units, to $868,000 for the eight largest, riverfront units. Developer Andrew Koop of Winnipeg’s Irwin Homes reiterated those are starting prices. When extras — such as a second indoor parking stall and additional custom features — are added, buyers who have purchased the eight largest units are probably paying closer to $1 million.

Koop and the project’s marketing/listing agent, Wayne Penner of Penner & Associates, said Nineteen/Fourteen is the first luxury condo complex to be built in northeast Winnipeg.

“This is the One Wellington for this end of the world,” Koop said, referring to the tower at One Wellington Crescent. “There is nothing else like it (in the area).”

Penner said there are lots of other condos in the northwest quadrant, but most are priced between $300,000 and $400,000. None is priced at $500,000 or more.

“That was non-existent, so this fills a need,” he added.

The fact that 15 of the 23 units have been sold with little or no marketing, other than word-of-mouth, shows there’s demand for this type of project, Penner said.

Koop said he finds it ironic the eight highest-priced units were among the first to sell, while the less expensive ones are still available.

“Just when I thought I understood my city, (I find out) I don’t,” he added with a chuckle.

This is Irwin Homes’ sixth condo project in Winnipeg, but its first featuring custom-built, luxury units. Koop said it’s like building 23 custom-designed homes under one roof.

He said he spent countless hours working with an interior design team and the architect — Otto Cheng — to figure out what features and amenities buyers would want in a luxury building. They tried to incorporate as many of them as possible into the design plans.

That included concrete-and-steel walls and floors, heated indoor parking, floor-to-ceiling windows in the main living area, custom kitchen cabinetry and appliances, ceramic-tile bathrooms, quartz countertops, hardwood floors, over-sized balconies and electric fireplaces.

“You still have (to give them) some choices, because it’s like a custom home,” he added.

The building features a multi-function club room with a kitchen, a party room/entertainment lounge, a private dining room, a furnished guest bedroom and storage lockers.

“I’m surprised Otto still likes me,” Koop said. “I went through 17 revisions of the plan. I was agonizing and analyzing (everything), because this was like the statement project for me. This was going to be ‘The’ place.”

Cheng said it was one of the most challenging projects he has worked on because it took nearly four years to obtain the necessary rezoning and design approvals. He said the city insisted Irwin Homes give up a strip of land along the back of the property for a future public river trail and a strip along the front of the property for the future widening of Henderson Highway.

Koop said he had no issues with either demand.

“They’re trying to reclaim the riverbank for the public, which I totally respect,” he said, adding the same goes for the city’s plan to eventually widen Henderson Highway.

Cheng said it was originally supposed to be a seven-storey, 36-unit complex, but neighbours complained that was too big. So they scaled it back to five storeys and 23 units.

Koop said the foundation piles have been poured and within a few weeks the concrete walls will start going up. They expect to have the building ready for occupancy by fall 2018.

He and Penner said they expect the remaining eight units to be sold by then.

Penner said so far, the buyers have been mainly successful business owners or professionals. All of them are 50-plus years of age and are looking to downsize from a big, single-family home to a high-end condo.

“A number of the people are coming from East St. Paul. (They) want luxury living, but they don’t want to go downtown,” he said. “They want to stay in an area they’re familiar with, a place where their family is and their business is, with quick access to the cottage in the summer.”

Koop said a few of them are former Irwin Homes customers who had custom-designed single-family homes built years ago. “I guess you could call it repeat business.”

Know of any newsworthy or interesting trends or developments in the local office, retail, industrial or multi-family-residential sectors? Let real estate reporter Murray McNeill know at the email address below, or at 204-697-7254.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca