Mall development requires vision, consultation
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The long-stagnant Portage Place mall has become something of an avatar for all of downtown Winnipeg’s problems.
Buying Portage Place, then, isn’t a simple real estate transaction. It’s a complex, nuanced challenge to which a potential developer must rise — and True North Real Estate Development, the real estate division of True North Sports and Entertainment, is the latest to throw its hat into the ring.
Of course, we’ve been here before. The Toronto-based Starlight Investments had planned to buy and redevelop the mostly vacant mall, but that plan — which had its share of critics — crumbled in 2021.
But True North, a Winnipeg company founded by a Winnipeg family, has a proven track record when it comes to investing in this city’s downtown.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
When it opened on the old Eaton’s site 20 years ago, the arena now known as the Canada Life Centre quickly became a concert destination, bringing acts that used to pass Winnipeg by. It was — and is — the home of the Manitoba Moose; in 2011, it became the home of the Winnipeg Jets.
The Burton Cummings Theatre was given a shot in the arm when True North assumed management and operations in 2014 and then purchased it two years later. True North Square, the mixed-used plaza near Canada Life Centre, is well on its way to completion, with the Hargrave St. Market food hall already open.
And True North also already has Expo Live! at Portage Place, the exhibition venue that last year hosted Unzipped, the touring exhibition on the Rolling Stones.
True North projects tend to move quickly once they get the green light, and a renewed Portage Place could be another link in a positive chain.
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The Southern Chiefs’ Organization is putting $130 million into the neighbouring former Hudson’s Bay building to create Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn, or “it is visible,” a mixed-use development that includes plans for restaurants, a rooftop garden, a public atrium, a health centre, a child-care facility and 300 housing units.
Further down Portage Avenue, CF Polo Park and Shindico have their own $1.1-billion plan to transform 84 acres of vacant land and surface parking lots between Portage and St. Matthews avenues over the next 10 years into a multi-unit residential development.
There are lots of ways a Portage Place redevelopment plan could go right. But there are also lots of ways it could go wrong, which is why it’s imperative that there are meaningful community consultations; reconciliation must be at the fore of those talks.
A reimagined Portage Place must include amenities for people who actually live — or want to live — downtown; it can’t just be yet another place that draws people in from the suburbs for occasional entertainment.
There’s no reason to think True North isn’t up to the challenge; investment requires belief, and clearly True North believes in downtown Winnipeg.
The wish list for what people want — and need — downtown isn’t exactly a secret. People have long been clamouring for more affordable housing, with an accessible, ground-level grocery store. The Portage Place food court is already a de facto town square; why not create a comfortable, welcoming place to meet and gather, a place where people would not be kicked out after 30 minutes for “loitering”?
On the entertainment file, keep Prairie Theatre Exchange in its home, as it’s one of the only things Portage Place consistently has going for it and is an important piece of Winnipeg’s arts and culture sector. Bring back a downtown movie theatre.
This development could be a site for a true “15-minute city” with a bit of vision and planning. There’s no reason to think True North isn’t up to the challenge; investment requires belief, and clearly True North believes in downtown Winnipeg.
