Back to the future

March 2008
Western Investor
Written by: Geoff Kirbyson

Selkirk reclaiming its stature as a regional shopping destination as Wal-Mart anchors a retail revival

Selkirk is looking to recapture a bit of its past as it prepares for its future.

The city of nearly 10,000 people, located about a 30-minute drive north of Winnipeg on the way to lake country, has taken a number of significant steps towards re-establishing itself as a regional centre in recent years. If a few of its irons in the fire come to fruition, the transformation will be complete.

David Bell, Selkirk's mayor, said the expansion of malls in north Winnipeg in the 1970s and '80s, such as Garden City Shopping Centre and Kildonan Place, attracted scores of people - and much-needed dollars - away from his city. That trend has begun to reverse itself, primarily due to the development of Selkirk Crossing, a big-box site featuring the likes of Wal-Mart, Dollarama, Mark's Work Wearhouse and Boston Pizza.

Shindico Realty, which oversaw the birth of the retail centre, is looking to duplicate its success across the road with another project that could bring a combination of restaurants and retailers to the area, Bell said.

"The arrival of Wal-Mart was a conduit to us truly becoming a regional centre again. [The mindset] used to be within 25 minutes you could be in Winnipeg. That thinking has changed now. We have all of the things we need here. We're not just the gateway to the Interlake, we're also the gateway to cottage country," he said, noting there are about 75,000 people within a half-hour's drive of Selkirk.

Chris Luellman, chief administrative officer for the City of Selkirk, said its staff and people in the community are doing their utmost to get the message out that Selkirk is open for business.

New hotel needed

One of their main objectives is attracting a developer to build a hotel with at least 60 rooms, a conference centre and water features.

He said Selkirk has a history of hosting or co-hosting big-time sporting events, such as the Women's World Hockey Championships, the provincial men's curling championship and the World Junior Hockey Championships.

"We've had a multitude of events where we could use accommodation instead of having people travelling back and forth [to Winnipeg]," Luellman said. "We've had discussions with three or four hoteliers who have shown interest. We hope to have it nailed down sometime this year."

But Bell said Selkirk has missed out on hosting a number of other events because it didn't have enough hotel rooms to handle the anticipated traffic. He said it's been difficult to attract a hotelier because of a perceived low return on investment.

"Hopefully we're creating a destination location here. We're hoping to capitalize on that tourism dollar and a make hotel far more sustainable than it would be now," he said.

Selkirk has just overseen a nearly half-million-dollar upgrade to its municipal pool, too, which was shut down last year after flood damage. Bell said he's hoping to tie that into some other water features, such as a splash pad, to further increase the tourist draw.

Luellman said an upgrade to its marina is also on the drawing board as Selkirk looks to become a staging point by water between Winnipeg and the cottage communities on the west side of Lake Winnipeg. The possible improvements at the marina include boat launch facilities and camp grounds.

"It's a long trip to Gimli. If you don't have the resources on the river itself, we would like to be that stopping point," he said.

A major project coming to Selkirk is the new hospital, recently approved by the Manitoba minister of health. The costs estimates is around $60 million, according to the ministry, which noted a new hospital was needed to replace the current facility.

A study found that the existing 24-year-old hospital was in such dire need of major repairs that it would be more cost-efficient to replace it.

The new hospital will be able to serve about three times more patients, and is expected to be complete in 2011. While the site of the new Selkirk hospital is not confirmed, many believe it will be located on a vacant, government-owned 24-acre parcel near the current hospital.

Transit plan

All of the activity has caused Bell to put the possibility of public transportation on the table for this year's budget, which will come out in the spring.

"There are a lot of people who would be supportive of some kind of public transportation. Not something large, just something that can get people from Point A to Point B at a reasonable price," he said, noting Brandon and Thompson both at least have bus service.

Bell said it's too early to say what kind of investment might be required or how many buses would need to be purchased to service Selkirk.

"We have yet to take a lot of this stuff to budget. We'll look for some more money to be put towards an investment in public transportation. We'll look at what kind of partnerships we can create and then decide what we need and what would best serve this particular region," he said.

$170,000 homes

Real estate in Selkirk is also in high demand. Bob Jefferson, owner of Century 21 Jefferson & Associates Realty Ltd., said house prices in Selkirk went up by at least 10 per cent in 2007.

An average home is a three-bedroom bungalow with a developed basement and a detached garage that sells for about $170,000.

Jefferson said the market is being driven by an increasing number of people moving to Selkirk, whether for work or retirement. It's even causing bidding wars in the spring, he said.

"There are people who lost out on houses in the summer and they're looking at houses now. Bidding wars are more predominant from April to September when you've got lots of buyers out there," he said.

Even though he recently sold a 1,400-square-foot former show home for $300,000, the luxury market isn't gaining much traction. Instead, he said what's sorely lacking are 1,100-square-foot homes into which people can upgrade from 800-square-foot bungalows.

Developers have started building this kind of home in nearby Beausejour, and he said he's spoken with Bell and several councillors about encouraging such construction in Selkirk.

Lonny Kubas, president of River Stone Developments, said his company is about halfway finished the first phase of Creekside Properties, a Selkirk subdivision that will have 72 residential lots and 30 side-by-side condominiums when it's completed in late 2008 or spring 2009.

He said about 90 per cent of the properties on the $37 million project have been sold, some to people as far away as British Columbia and Alberta.

One of the big selling points is that Creekside worked alongside Manitoba Hydro to develop the first completely "power smart" community in the province.

Kubas said there's no question that would-be home-buyers are looking for energy efficient houses.

"It's the right thing to do. The incremental cost to building a power smart home is minimal. It's something we're proud of and it's of clear value to the consumer," he said.

Kubas said as a smaller developer, there was no land available in Winnipeg when he started looking a couple of years ago, so he set his sights on the bedroom communities. Selkirk fit the bill, he said.

"It has all the amenities you need for people of all ages - a major hospital, shopping with stores like Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire and bus service to Winnipeg," he said. "We've had great support from the City of Selkirk. They've been very good to do business with and very open to work together on pulling this together."

Approval of the new hospital will be an added incentive to purchase in Selkirk, particularly among retired people, according to local agents.

Jefferson added Selkirk's existing industrial lots have all been gobbled up, so the city will have to look at opening up additional parcels of land to further encourage business development. And he belives the city has one other ace to play. "The taxes here are quite reasonable," he said.

Copyright © 2000 BIV Publications Ltd.