The Value of Investing in Canadian Downtowns - International ...

Key Patterns of Investment
1. Investment in Entertainment, Cultural and Educational Facilities
Central Business District: In the past decade the City has been investing in many public entertainment and cultural
facilities in its central business district. The City contributed to one of the most significant investments made in the
core – the True North Project in 2002 ($125M), which primarily included development of the MTS Centre. The MTS
Centre was a critical piece to bringing back the Winnipeg Jets, which has created a massive surge of momentum in
downtown. This project has also been linked to a major new development – ‘The Long Boat Project’, which will bring
a new office, boutique hotel, and new restaurants to adjacent parcels. The City has also contributed to the
development of the very popular Millennium Library and Park ($22.8M). These facilities are very well utilized and
attract many visitors to the downtown every year.
The creation of Red River College’s downtown campus represents a major achievement that was supported by both
the province and the City. This project created a new educational facility on Princess Street in multiple heritage
buildings ($27M) and led to the restoration of six heritage facades on a brownfield site. The College now brings many
students to the downtown core every day. The University of Winnipeg is also a major player in the core, investing
$13M in the downtown in the past decade.
Waterfront: The waterfront has also been a major area for
new public investments, facilitated by the redevelopment of
several large brownfield sites that were formerly rail yards.
These major parcels have allowed for the creation of Shaw
Park (the baseball field), the Provencher Bridge and
Esplanade Riel, and the new walkway/bicycle path that
links The Forks site with Stephen Juba Park. Soon, the
Canadian Human Rights Museum will complement this
vital area. Moreover lands along the River have led to the
creation of Waterfront Drive, a new mixed use
neighbourhood that links the River to the Exchange District
and the central business district strengthening the
connections between these two vital areas.
Red River College, was an exciting new program downtown that led to the
restoration of 6 heritage facades
2. Investment in Social Infrastructure
Downtown Winnipeg is navigating significant social challenges associated with poverty, health, wellbeing, and
homelessness within its core population. These issues have spurred some significant public investments that have
been progressively and proactively addressing some of these challenges, such as Thunderbird House and Aboriginal
Centre. This was an investment made with funding from all three levels of government. Moreover the Bell Hotel
(historically one of the City’s finer small hotels) was redeveloped in 2011 to provide supportive housing to the
chronically homeless. This facility now houses 42 people and provides a range of services to vulnerable populations
in the downtown. This project offers an excellent example of how a downtown redevelopment can simultaneously
meet the needs of vulnerable populations and enhance and repurpose a heritage building suffering from decline.
http://www.mbchamber.mb.ca/2010/12/another-8-million-raised-for-canadianmuseum-for-human-rights/
3. Increasing Emphasis on Growing Residential Population
Downtown Winnipeg has been increasingly focused on attracting residential growth through the creation of high
quality residential neighbourhoods. For example the development of Waterfront Drive represents a major investment
to support residential development. The area now contains four major condominium developments, the Excelsior,
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