Four vacant, historic buildings are slated to be transformed to offer housing in downtown Winnipeg, including the long empty St. Charles Hotel.
The hotel at 235 Notre Dame Ave., which has been vacant since 2008, is among the buildings set to provide a combined 297 new housing units in the city centre. That total will include 106 affordable homes.
About $4.65 million in publicly funded grants will be provided for the private developments. All four projects involve buildings that have at least some heritage elements protected against demolition.
The St. Charles Hotel, at 235 Notre Dame Ave., landed on the National Trust for Canada’s endangered buildings list in 2024. (Mike Deal / Free Press files)
“A $4.6-million public investment is unlocking $88 million in (total) private capital. That is a massive return on investment, and it puts tradespeople to work and brings new life to heritage buildings that have been dark for too long,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.
The grants include $2 million from the city, through its share of the federal housing accelerator fund, while CentreVenture Development Corporation will provide $2.65 million from the Gail Parvin Hammerquist fund.
“I believe that we have the people in place right now to see the redevelopment at the St. Charles happening.”
While the redevelopment of the St. Charles Hotel has been pondered for many years, the mayor said he’s confident the latest proposal will finally restore the property.
“Sometimes it may take several attempts, like it’s taken prior to now, to get to this place, but I believe that we have the people in place right now to see the redevelopment at the St. Charles happening,” said Gillingham.
Previous plans for a boutique hotel at the site, followed later by an affordable housing proposal, did not succeed.
The ailing three-storey structure was also once deemed “endangered” by the National Trust for Canada, a charity that aims to save heritage spaces.
Danny Serhal, chief executive officer of Penfor Construction, said he’s now working with building owner Ken Zaifman on a housing proposal that would carefully preserve the hotel’s facade.
“When you looked at the Hotel St. Charles, it has some deep structural issues. So, our strategy is to scan, very carefully, the existing facade, dismantle it, store it, build a new building, and then come back and replace the facade,” said Serhal.
The new building will reach up to 11 stories tall, ideally with construction starting by the end of this year and completed over about 2.5 years, he said.
The St. Charles redevelopment is expected to offer 140 housing units, including 80 affordable ones. The Maws Garage/ Sanford Development (291 Bannatyne Ave.) project is set to create 114 homes (18 affordable), 290 Garry St. would offer 29 units (five affordable) and Alloway Lofts (179 McDermot Ave.) would create 14 units (three affordable), according to CentreVenture.
“It allows these spaces to remain vibrant, relevant, and lived in, not simply remembered.”
Developers Mark and Shelley Buleziuk, who will develop the Alloway Lofts site, said multi-family residential development is often the most financially viable option to reuse heritage buildings.
“It allows these spaces to remain vibrant, relevant, and lived in, not simply remembered through old photographs in an archive,” said Shelley Buleziuk.
However, such projects can also pose unique challenges, since buildings designed a century ago often require significant structural, life safety, accessibility and mechanical upgrades.
“As a result, costs are volatile, timelines are fluid, and feasibility can shift as new information emerges … These projects often sit in the gap between what is economically feasible and what is socially valuable. Government participation through gap-bridging tools like the (grant) program we’re celebrating today helps close this gap and allows housing to move from concept to completion,” said Mark Buleziuk.
The Alloway Lofts redevelopment would convert a former commercial building, which has been empty since last summer to create rental units of about 37 to 41 square metres in size (400 to 450 square feet).
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham: “The presence of people is critical to safety.”
CentreVenture Development Corporation announced the housing proposals Tuesday, as a first step toward its goal to attract 750 new housing units downtown each year.
“To create a 24-7 urban downtown, we must press forward in reviving vacant historic buildings, reimagining underused surface parking lots, and shaping a vibrant, walkable density that supports a population twice what it is today. Because when people live downtown, everything follows, small business, street life, safety and vibrancy,” said Rochelle Squires, the organization’s president and chief executive officer.
Squires said the grants help ensure the added cost of renovating heritage buildings doesn’t prevent them from being repaired and reused.
Developers will also be eligible to apply for an $8,500 tax credit per rental unit and another $5,000 credit for affordable units through provincial programs.
The affordable suites are required to charge rents of no more than 30 per cent of median market income for at least 10 years. For a single person, that would amount to a maximum rent of $1,100 per month.
“(For some units) developers are charging rents well below that amount,” said Squires.
For example, 42 of the units within the St. Charles Hotel development will have rents of $900 a month, she said.
Manitoba Housing Minister Bernadette Smith expects the new homes to attract further investment.
“By bringing people down here to live, we’re going to see businesses come back, we’re going to see community come back together,” said Smith.
Winnipeg’s mayor also expects the new projects to produce several benefits for the downtown area.
“The presence of people is critical to safety. It’s critical to supporting economic growth and development. We are seeing that momentum, really take shape here in downtown,” said Gillingham.
The developers of the four projects are required to get permits by Nov. 1 to meet a deadline for federal funding.
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
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Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
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