Hotel buys former Carleton Club

January 23, 2008
Winnipeg Free Press
Written by: Murray McNeill

THE former Carleton Club is getting a new lease on life after being purchased by the owners of the Fort Garry Hotel.

Rick Bel and Ida Albo plan to convert the three-storey Fort Street building into a stand-alone banquet facility that will be run by the hotel's banquet staff.

Bel said the Fort Garry needs more banquet space and there's no room to expand at its property on Broadway. So when he saw a for-sale sign on the former Carleton Club, he took a tour of the property and decided to buy it.

"It was a food and beverage facility, it's close to the hotel and there's lots of parking nearby," he said in an interview.

The building is also structurally sound and comes with kitchens and banquet rooms, he said, so all it needs is cosmetic improvements.

Bel said it's too soon to say how much the hotel will spend on renovating the 37,000-square-foot building, located on the west side of Fort Street between Portage and Graham avenues. But he hopes to have everything done in time for an early summer opening.

Jim Baker, president and CEO of the Manitoba Hotel Association, said it's not surprising to see the Fort Garry expanding its banquet operations. Other Winnipeg hotels have been doing the same thing, although they've been doing it on their existing sites.

"I think it (expanding off-site) is probably a unique situation that they (Bel and Albo) are hoping will work," he added.

Baker said most hotels seem to be doing well with their banquet and convention operations. "I have no empirical evidence there is more demand. But it is a very important component of a hotel's operations and it's highly competitive and it's business they're going after."

Bel said there have been instances where the Fort Garry has turned away customers because the dates they wanted were already booked. Having a second facility will give them an option.

Because of lower operating costs, the Fort Street facility also will be able to offer lower rates than the hotel can offer, he said.

"We're going to focus on well-priced banquets with an innovative menu. It's mid-market and it's a different market for us."

Bel said they haven't decided yet on a name for the facility. And while it's three blocks away from the hotel, that shouldn't be a problem, he added.

Ian Corbett, an associate broker with Shindico Realty Inc. and the listing agent for the property, said it had been on the market since last spring when Assiniboine Credit Union foreclosed on the mortgage held by previous owner Times Investments Ltd. The Winnipeg-based firm had owned it since 1998.

Corbett said he received offers from several other local investors. One wanted to turn it into office space and another wanted to convert it to condominiums. Their offers were too low.

"To reproduce this building would cost well over $5 million with today's construction costs," Corbett said. "It could even be as high as $7 million."

The price the Fort Garry paid for the building wasn't disclosed.

The sale of the property means the lone tenant in the building -- Fort Garry Unit 60 of the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada Inc. -- is looking for a new home.

Manager Bob Ivy said the unit has two or three months to find new quarters. He's not sure if it will remain in the downtown, where it's been for more than 35 years, or move to the suburbs.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

History lesson

Some information about the former Carleton Club building at 280 Fort:

• The three-storey structure was built in 1976-77 to replace the private club's former Main Street premise, which was expropriated to make way for the Commodity Exchange Tower/Winnipeg Square complex.
• The building is about 37,000 sq. ft., with a circular, free-standing staircase, plus passenger and freight elevators.
• Originally, it had four squash/racquet courts, an exercise room and lockers in the basement. The second floor had a 200-person banquet room, a 100-person dining room, and a 50-person lounge and kitchen, and the third floor had a members lounge, pool room and four private meeting rooms.
• Winnipeg-based Times Investments Ltd. purchased the property in March 1998 and opened a nightclub -- Opium -- on the third floor. Over the years, it also operated a number of restaurants and banquet facilities in the building, including the Red Fort Tandoor House and Piccadilly Restaurant.

-- Source: Shindico Realty Inc.