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.
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.
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.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was little changed in late-morning trading as the financial sector fell, but energy and base metal stocks moved higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.05 of a point at 24,224.95.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 94.31 points at 42,417.69. The S&P 500 index was down 10.91 points at 5,781.13, while the Nasdaq composite was down 29.59 points at 18,262.03.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.71 cents US compared with 73.05 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was up US$1.69 at US$74.93 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up a penny at US$2.67 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$14.70 at US$2,640.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up two cents at US$4.42 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.
