The first major development in Winnipeg’s CentrePort South could become the largest industrial complex in the city’s history.
Local investment firm Jessiman Family Investments has applied to build a 283-hectare (700-acre) industrial development in the area, near the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, Mayor Scott Gillingham said Tuesday.
The project, called Catalyst Park, is believed to be the largest industrial development ever proposed in Winnipeg, Gillingham told reporters at city hall.
“CentrePort is key to Winnipeg’s economic future,” he said. “I want to see it fully developed … [and] maximize its potential for the sake of Winnipeg’s economy.”
The proposed development comes after the City of Winnipeg decided to install water and sewer services in the CentrePort South area in 2022.
CentrePort is an 8,000-hectare (20,000-acre) transportation hub that provides access to rail, truck and air cargo operations. Most of CentrePort is in the rural municipality of Rosser, to the city’s northwest, but CentrePort South is closer to the airport.
The rural municipality was able to get ahead of the city on developing the north part of the site because it already had pipes in the ground, Gillingham said.
Gillingham has touted development at CentrePort as crucial to Winnipeg’s future and its “sky economy” — a term he has used to describe the city’s aviation, aerospace and defence sectors.
“The CentrePort South lands are adjacent to the Winnipeg airport, which really helps to develop and grow and continue to create high-wage, high-paying, good-value jobs for Winnipeggers, all related to the sky economy,” he said.
The city has already seen interest from at least one company in the aerospace sector in locating at this new site if it’s approved, Gillingham said.
According to the release from the mayor’s office, the new park would be twice the size of the St. Boniface Industrial Park, which opened in 1977.
In a letter to councillors on the city’s Assiniboia community committee, which oversees the area including the airport, Gillingham said the city’s CentrePort South Development Team has already been working with Jessiman Family Investments over the last year “to address a range of potential planning issues at the site.”
All stakeholders should work to remove barriers to the development, where possible, while respecting the approvals process, Gillingham said Tuesday.
“As far as hearing any objections or requests that come forward, I’m very open-minded to what may need to change. But in general, I want to see CentrePort South developed,” he said.
Other major infrastructure projects on the city’s priority list, including the widening of Kenaston Boulevard and the extension of Chief Peguis Trail, will be needed to take full advantage of development at CentrePort South, Gillingham said.