Listen to this article
Estimated 5 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
A new mixed-income apartment complex in the Exchange District is ready to welcome its first tenants.
Market Lands South, built on the former site of the Winnipeg police headquarters, between city hall and the Red River College Polytechnic downtown campus, is at the end of its first phase of construction.
The mixed-use, mixed-income complex has 95 rental units, with studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Of those, 48 are designated as rent-geared-to-income units, officials said at a Tuesday news conference in the new building to mark its official grand opening.
The first tenants are expected to move in this month.
The affordable units will be distributed throughout the building to create an inclusive living space for all tenants, regardless of economic status.
Media were given a tour on Tuesday of Market Lands South, which sits on the site of the former Public Safety Building. It has 95 apartments, made up of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units. (Cameron MacLean/CBC)
“This is a really unique model,” provincial Housing Minister Bernadette Smith said at Tuesday’s opening, which included a media tour of the building.
“This building is going to give folks that opportunity, because regardless of your socio-economic status, you can have an apartment in this building.”
Jeremy Read, the CEO of the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation 2.0 — the non-profit developer that built Market Lands South — said there have been 29 applications for rent-geared-to-income units so far.
The renewal corporation works with organizations such as New Journey Housing, Ten Ten Sinclair Housing Inc. and Resource Assistance for Youth, or RaY, to identify tenants for those units, he said.
“By affordable here, we mean ‘deeply affordable,’ and supplemented by rent supplement from the province,” said Read, noting that someone on a full supplement would pay $285 a month for a one-bedroom, as opposed to $1,500 a month.
‘Renewal and revitalization’: Gillingham
In addition to rental units, Market Lands South will also feature a multipurpose space for events, said Read, and a “creative hub” on the first and second floors that will be home in the coming weeks to cultural organizations such as Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art, Creative Manitoba and Manitoba Music.
“This is exactly the kind of development we want to see more of in downtown Winnipeg,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said at the opening.
“For several years, we’ve talked about the potential of this site, and now together — because of all our collective work — we’re seeing the potential become reality.”
Mayor Scott Gillingham says Market Lands South’s opening will bring renewed life to Winnipeg’s Exchange District. (Cameron MacLean/CBC)
A “whole-government approach” was taken when supporting the development, Smith said, with funding for the project coming from the municipal, provincial and federal levels.
“Investment is about people and making sure that those who need a safe and affordable home have access,” the housing minister said.
“It’s important because we know strong communities are built when people from different backgrounds and income levels have the opportunity to live alongside each other.”
Gillingham said the building’s opening will bring renewed life to the core-area Exchange District, which he called one of the city’s “most historic and treasured neighbourhoods.”
“Downtown seemed to be on a bit of a decline. We’re seeing that reversed now,” Gillingham said. “This project and other projects to come … are really important parts of that renewal and revitalization.”
PUB was demolished in 2020
The Public Safety Building, which formerly sat on the site, closed in 2016 after the Winnipeg Police Service moved into its new headquarters on Graham Avenue. The building and its adjacent parkade were demolished in 2020.
In 2021, city council agreed to give CentreVenture, Winnipeg’s downtown development agency, $2.5 million worth of tax breaks over 25 years to help get redevelopment off the ground at the site. CentreVenture later partnered with the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corp.
Construction was supposed to start in early 2022, but plans had to be redesigned in order to make sure the building’s energy-efficient features did not put the project over-budget, the renewal corporation previously said.
Future phases of the Market Lands project will see another apartment building constructed on the north side of the property. (Cameron MacLean/CBC)
The land was donated to the City of Winnipeg in 1875 by Jemima Ross and her family to build the city’s first market, on the condition that the site always be used for community purposes.
To honour that donation, the atrium of Market Lands South will be named Ross Family Hall, said Daneeka Abon, the U of W renewal corporation’s design and construction director.
“The foresight of Jemima Ross and her descendants connect the past and the present,” Abon said. “This building is a testament to that vision, and I’m so excited that we get to bring art and housing together at the centre of our city, and at the centre of our country.”
Future phases of the project will see another apartment building constructed on the north side of the property, renewal corporation CEO Read said.