Province confirms funds for downtown residential complex

Is this good government spending?

By PAUL TURENNE, Winnipeg Sun

The Manitoba government made official Tuesday a $575,000 grant it had previously promised to provide to a developer who wants to renovate a building the city considers a "visual blight" on Portage Avenue.

Last month the city approved an $800,000 grant to a numbered company run by developer Mark Hofer, who wants to convert the 106-year-old Avenue Building at 265 Portage Ave. into a 59-unit residential complex with commercial space on the ground floor.

CentreVenture, the city's non-profit downtown development corporation, has agreed to sell the six-storey building to Hofer for $1.

A city report that recommended the incentives noted that the province had already promised it would provide a $575,000 grant to Hofer if the city approved its portion of the deal, which it did last month.

On Tuesday, the provincial government confirmed that its portion of the money will flow.

The building has been vacant for 10 years, and last month's city report called it a "visual blight" that requires significant building code upgrades. The report said renovating the building would be unfeasible without "significant public funding."

Hofer hopes to fill the building with smaller-sized, loft-style, mostly one-bedroom units.

Please please please tell me the braintrust at CV has included a conditional sale bit in the sale document.. ie condition he actually fricken does this and not just sit on it for years on end.

I understand the renovations are well underway...

renos have started on other properties they sold for a dollar too

So...the 'developer' said he was marketing the joint to people that are thinking of perhaps, moving downtown but don't want to buy right away. This allows them the opportunity to rent for awhile and decide.

Good luck...he needs it....oh wait....it's our fcuken money he's playing with!!!!

There's always an idiot out there with money he's willing to spend, so why not. The ground level around this building is a disaster anyway.

Cleaning this up is way over due.

With the new Roberston College being built, as well with the new UofM campuses under development in the exchange, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for some newer rental units available.

because college and uni students can afford to live in brand new apartments that have high rent?

uh, yeah, they sure can when Mommy and Daddy are footing the bill.

What surprised me was the rents the developer was suggesting for that building: $600ish - $900ish. Not sure how that building can be viable at that price point. Is it possible he'll "change his mind" later on and turn the building into condos?

Something had to be done with that building. The government either pays to tear it down, in which case it most likely ends up as a parking lot, or the government subsidizes a private developer to fix it up. No developer was stepping forward earlier because it obviously didn't make financial sense to pump millions of dollars in reno's into a decrepit building like that. The longer you leave it, the more it is going to cost to address it, and in the mean time you have this ugly empty monstrosity two blocks from Portage and Main. Even with the subsidy I am sure the developer is taking a financial risk with this project, and there is a desperate need for apartment units in this town, so I'm optimistic that they will fill up. I hope the main floor commercial does as well, but I'm a little less optimistic about that part...

grumpy old man wrote:Is it possible he'll "change his mind" later on and turn the building into condos?

It's more than possible, I'd say it's more likely that will happen before long.

I could see it turn into reasonably priced condos instead of rentals before it's finished. I'd be surprised if they could charge $600-900 and come close to covering conversion costs. A lot of buildings downtown seem to start out renovations to be rentals, then when people see what it costs to deal with the building's mechanical and fire systems they switch them to condos so they don't go broke.

I do believe that he has some restrictions as to what he can do. I hope he has as it mostly our money that is doing the work here.

But with this government one never knows. Selinger is putting up $105 M of the $115M for the stadium afterall.

Ahem.... that is the CITY OF WINNIPEG that is putting up that money and that will be forced to pay it should (HA!) Creswin decide not to pay its loan off.

Ahhhh...Selinger is backing the deal, not Katz. Katz is laughing as it doesn't hold the city responsible.

Selinger may be backing the deal with his mouth but its the city that is on the hook financially.

That's not the way I understand it.

The city through turning over any tax revenue collected from any development will be responsible for paying it off. True.. if it never gets developed the province is on the hook. But if it does get developed by someone other then Asper the city must turn over the taxes.

Like most, I haven't seen the deal, so I can't do more that speculate.

However, from a statement that McFadyen made at lunch the other day, and repeated twice, I'll believe his version, which I just repeated. Plus, remember the press conference where Selinger couldn't explain the deal himself?...Asker has managed to re-write the Doer deal to something completely different....which hasn't been fully detailed as of yet to my knowledge.

Fully detailed enough?

http://winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/ViewDoc.asp?DocId=10170&SectionId=252148&InitUrl=/CLKDMIS/Documents/c/2010/m10170/epc%2004%2021%20no.%2008.pdf


em No. 8 Economic Development Initiative for the redevelopment of the
existing stadium site and the new stadium development at the
University of Manitoba
eFile G-8
COUNCIL DECISION:
Council concurred in the recommendation of the Executive Policy Committee and adopted the
following;
1. That lands described as the property bounded by Empress Street on the East, Maroons
Road on the South, St. James Street on the West and St. Matthews Avenue on the North,
which land is known as 1465 Maroons Road (the existing stadium site “ESS”) be
declared surplus to the City’s needs.
2. That the existing stadium site be sold to Creswin Properties Inc. (“Creswin”) in
accordance with terms and conditions set out in the report from the Winnipeg Public
Service dated April 13, 2010.
3. That a $2.5 Million Grant for the construction of a new Community Accessible Fitness
Centre at the University of Manitoba in conjunction with the new stadium at the
University of Manitoba, be approved and funded from the proceeds of the sale of the
existing stadium site.
4. That a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the existing stadium site remaining after
the reduction recommended in #3 above be used to offset pending infrastructure
improvements within the Polo Park area.
5. That a $1.1 Million Grant-in-kind for Permit and Development fees for the new stadium
at the University of Manitoba be approved.
6. That in the event of default or if Creswin is unable to fulfill all conditions required by the
City and Province for purchase of the football team assets prior to March 1, 2016, all
incremental municipal taxes together with the incremental provincial education taxes
from the development of the existing stadium site be used to repay the stadium bridge
financing as set out in the report from the Winnipeg Public Service dated April 13, 2010,
on condition that the subject property be designated community revitalization property by
the Province pursuant to The Community Revitalization Tax Incremental Financing Act.

There are alot more details in that PDF if you read further.

Well, didn't the Province give Asker the bridge financing....which has to be repaid first?

...and what's this new Community Accessible Fitness
Centre ??? 2.5 for that??? WTF.

JTF wrote:Well, didn't the Province give Asker the bridge financing....which has to be repaid first?

Exactly! and if Asker dont repay it. The city (and WSD1) is on the hook by way of giving up tax revenue from the current location ( if it is ever developed into anything)

The city will still receive tax revenue from the Polo Park development (or vacant land) but the money from a sale will go to the debt owed to the Province.