Plans for former stockyards approved

St. Vital

St. Boniface

Windsor Park

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This article was published 18/09/2024 (411 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Riel Community Committee held its first meeting following the summer break on Sept 6. Over the span of a few hours, the committee discussed a number of plans for the area.

First, the committee approved a zoning-agreement amendment for the land bounded by Marion Street, the CPKC and CN Railways, and Speers Road, located just north of Windsor Park.

The site is now a vacant field but was home to Winnipeg’s Union Stockyards from 1913 to 1988. Plans to develop a residential neighbourhood have been discussed many times in the decades since the stockyards closed.

Plans presented at the meeting, if approved, call for the construction of a neighbourhood of 2,000 multi-family housing units, with 200 units being affordable. The site would additionally be home to 300,000 square feet of commercial building space, one million square feet of industrial land, along with two large recreational parks, featuring a soccer field, baseball diamond, playgrounds, and the potential for a community gardening space.

The area will also be connected to Winnipeg Transit routes and support the goals of the long-term OurWinnipeg 2045 plan, which was developed to encourage pedestrian traffic and active transportation.

A hearing was held at the meeting, but no one registered in opposition.

“I think this project is in line with what the community has been asking for, for many years,” said Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface), in support.

“There have been many complaints related to the interactions between the heavy industrial and residential uses and I think the residents of St. Boniface have preferred a vision of an increased supply of residential, in particular for families. And I understand that that’s going to be part of this plan.”

Plans for a proposed townhouse development at 166 Sadler Ave. in the St. Vital neighbourhood were also discussed, but were laid over to an upcoming meeting on Sept. 24.

Finally, the committee recommended that ‘no parking’ signs be installed along St. Mary’s Avenue, between Fermor Avenue and Abinojii Mikanah Boulevard, northbound and southbound alike.