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Exchange District ‘investment strategy’ calls for 15,000 more residents over 20 years

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A long-term development strategy for Winnipeg’s Exchange District calls for public and private investments that will increase the population of the downtown neighbourhood and several adjacent areas by 15,000 people over 20 years.

The Exchange District Community Investment Strategy, published Wednesday by the neighbourhood’s Business Improvement Zone, seeks to increase the population of the area from about 4,000 people right now to up to 25,000 people by the 2040s.

To make this happen, the strategy calls for residential intensification, the improvement of existing streetscapes and the construction of new amenities such as a cantilevered pedestrian bridge along the CN Mainline railway bridge over the Red River to St. Boniface.

Some of projects in the strategy are already in the works, such as CentreVenture’s planned redevelopment of the former Public Safety Building site, which the downtown development agency calls the Market Lands.

Other projects are aspirational. The strategy calls on the city to reimagine Albert Street and the eastern section of Alexander Avenue as shared thoroughfares for vehicles and pedestrians, redevelop three blocks of King Street within Chinatown and build a signature-look rapid transit station at the corner of Market Avenue and Main Street.

The strategy also calls for the expansion of the footprint for Exchange District festivals from the existing Old Market Square into an “arts festival campus” running from Chinatown to the new park outside Burton Cummings Theatre.

David Pensato of the Exchange District BIZ says his organization has put forward a strategy, not a plan. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)

According to the strategy, all this investment would bring new residents to the Exchange District who would generate $9.3 million of new property-tax revenue for the city every year. The document does not, however, identify how much public and private investment would be required to make this happen.

David Pensato, executive director of the Exchange District BIZ, said the document is a strategy, not a plan.

“What this really does is confidently show the direction is good and these types of revenue projections are good. This then needs to come together into a series of smaller, specific plans,” he said following a presentation of the strategy Wednesday at the Manitoba Architects Association.

An architectural mockup of a pedestrianized Albert Street. (Exchange District BIZ)

Reaction to the strategy was mixed among some owners of Exchange District businesses.

Jon Thiessen, the owner of U.N. Luggage on McDermot Avenue, said he appreciates the emphasis on future population growth but would like to see the BIZ focus more right now on public safety.

“I think it is good to have a vision,” said Thiessen, whose business has operated in the Exchange in some form since the 1940s.

“I would love, though, for that amount of concentration and that amount of effort be put into issues that are pressing now, before the neighbourhood slips backward.”

Jon Thiessen of U.N. Luggage says he supports planning for more Exchange residents in the future, but would also like to see an immediate focus on neighbourhood safety. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)

Brian Scharfstein, who owns Canadian Footwear on Adelaide Street, was even more concerned the BIZ is not sufficiently focused on public safety.

“I think it’s a big-picture, long-term, pie-in-the-sky kind of plan,” said Scharfstein, whose business near the Exchange dates back to the 1930s.

He said some customers and staff are afraid to come to his Adelaide store and that he is investing in downtown real estate but not more retail operations in the centre of the city.

“My numbers are growing in my other stores around Winnipeg. Downtown continues to decline because we’re doing nothing to build the perception of a safe downtown for both our employees and the people coming downtown.”

 

Bringing new residents to the Exchange District

 

Featured VideoA long-term development strategy for Winnipeg’s Exchange District calls for public and private investments that will increase the population of the downtown neighbourhood and several adjacent areas by 15,000 people over 20 years.

 

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Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

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NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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