City of Winnipeg in negotiations to sell vacant lot

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This article was published 26/07/2024 (760 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An Osborne Village property, vacant for six decades, could soon see a building rise up on the spot — after the city digs a big hole.

Coun. Sherri Rollins, chairwoman of the civic property and development committee, said a tender for a contractor to remove the soil on the site at Osborne Street and Stradbrook Avenue has closed and it calls for the work to be done in the next four months. The site, next to the former Basil’s Restaurant, was previously a service garage and through the years oil and other chemicals seeped into the soil below.

Rollins said once the soil is removed, she hopes someone purchases the site and puts it to a greater use.

“There has been a lot of talk of property owners just sitting on properties and doing nothing with them,” she said.

“If the city is going to tell owners to do something with their vacant properties, than the city has to walk the walk, too, and have a higher and better use of the land here.

“Let’s not have the city sit on a property that could have commercial on a main floor and residential above. We need more residences in this city.”

The councillor for Fort-Rouge East Fort Garry said that’s why she pushed city council to declare the property as surplus in 2020 to move towards selling it.

While the issue of remediation of the soil has slowed it down, Rollins is still pleased the site is a step closer to development.

The site was expropriated by the city in 1965 to be used as an off-street parking lot.

Before the fence went up around the lot, it was managed by the Winnipeg Parking Authority and could hold 20 vehicles. The WPA received more than $94,000 in revenue from the site in 2019.

City spokeswoman Deborah Bowers said the site was used as a service garage before 1965.

“Regarding sale of the property, we are in negotiations with a potential buyer,” Bowers said.

“As such, the property is no longer listed for sale per the city’s real estate sale transaction practices.”

Zohreh Gervais, executive director of the Osborne Village BIZ, said the lot has had a fence around it for two years and is an eyesore.

“It looks bad,” Gervais said. “That’s why there is talk about potentially opening it up until any changes are made there.”

She said until the land is developed, the BIZ and local merchants would love to see some activities on the site, but “if not, we’d like to see a parking lot there.

“It would be better than just seeing a fenced lot.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca