A St. Boniface renaissance

February 17, 2009
Winnipeg Free Press
Written by: Murray McNeill

Retail, office, restaurant development shoots up

The heart of Winnipeg's French Quarter is going through another growth spurt, with more than half a dozen new businesses opening in the last year and more on the way.

Like the 13 new businesses that sprang up between late 2003 and late 2006, many of these latest arrivals are restaurants. And most of them have set up shop on the quarter's premier retail/commercial strip -- the eastern half of Provencher Boulevard.

"Ten years ago you could shoot a cannon down that street (Provencher) and not hit anybody," the director of the area's economic development arm -- Enterprises Riel -- said in an interview.

"Now there is a definite pent-up demand for retail space on the boulevard," Normand Gousseau said.
The most high-profile new addition -- a clothing boutique by L.A. celebrity twins Chip and Pepper Foster -- is just temporary.

The two Winnipeg natives have been opening "pop shops" (they pop up for a while and then close) in a variety of locations, including one that opened for the Christmas shopping season in one of their old stomping grounds -- Kenora, Ont.

Pepper Foster and their local business partner -- Kenora publisher/photographer Tom Thomson -- said the Kenora store attracted so many Winnipeg shoppers that opening one here was a no-brainer.

The nearly 1,200-square-foot Winnipeg shop, which will carry higher-end denim jeans and T-shirts -- will be located on the main floor of the Place Joseph Royal condominium complex on Provencher just east of Rue Tache. It opened on Friday and will remain open until March 15.

Pepper said if it's successful, they'll consider opening a permanent store somewhere in the city.

"You never know. I think a store could work there. It's a great city and a great market," Pepper said of their hometown.

"I think within the next year we'll have to plan on doing something (in Canada). If we do, we'd probably do two (stores). One would be in Winnipeg and one would probably be in Toronto."

Gousseau said he'd love to see a permanent Chip & Pepper store open on Provencher. But even if that never happens, there's another huge development in the works just across the river at The Forks -- the Canadian Museum for Human Rights -- that will be even better. Construction of that is to begin on April 1 with a targeted opening for early 2012.

"From a tourism perspective and a traffic-generating perspective it's going to be huge for St. Boniface," Gousseau said. "Provencher Boulevard, no matter what we do now, is going to fly."

Some area proponents have said they're a little frustrated that it isn't already flying high, but Gousseau is preaching patience.

"These things take time. Development doesn't happen overnight."

He said there are only two significant parcels of land on Provencher that need to be redeveloped -- the former Shell gas station site on the south side of the street east of Tache, and another one directly across the street.

He said the Shell property is on the verge of being sold and a multistorey office/retail complex will likely be built there.

And the property across the street, partially owned by Enterprises Riel, could also be redeveloped within the next year. "We're working on a couple of concepts right now," he said, including another office/retail complex or possibly a hotel.

Gousseau said Enterprises Riel officials would welcome more multistorey developments that have retail space on the main floor and office space above.

He said a perfect example of that is the new $10.5-million, four-storey, office/retail complex that Caisse St. Boniface is building on the north side of Provencher near Aulneau.

They're also anxious to see more multifamily residential developments like the 58-unit Place Joseph Royal complex and the 79-unit condo development at 500 Tache, both of which were competed within the last two years.

And they won't have to wait long. The Qualico Group's StreetSide Development Corp., which built Place Joseph Royal, is planning another multi-family residential development for the former Le Rendez-vous nightclub site on Tache.

StreetSide sales manager Paul Gray said the pre-construction launch of Phase 1 of the Verve Tache development is scheduled for this spring, and details will be announced then. Construction of Phase 2, which will be located across Aubert Street, will begin once most of the units in Phase I are sold.

The Place Joseph Royal complex included 8,000 square feet of retail/commercial space on the main floor. Laurent Soret, commercial property manager for the Qualico division that manages the complex -- Rancho realty Services (Manitoba) Ltd. -- said tenants have been found for two of the eight units.

He said the kinds of tenants they're looking for include professional offices, retail stores, a specialty food store and a small restaurant.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

French Quarter growing again

Winnipeg's French Quarter -- Provencher Street and the surrounding area -- has experienced a commercial revival in the last five years, and is going through another growth spurt. Here are some of the new businesses that have opened within the last year, as well as a couple that are coming within the next few months:

• Sawatdee Thai Restaurant, 150 Provencher. Opened in November.
• Jardin Asie-Pacifique Gardens restaurant, 271 Provencher. Opened last year.
• Les Jasmin De La Tunisia, 131 Provencher. Opened last May.
• Cafe 22, B-130 Provencher. Opened on the weekend.
• Le Garage Cafe, 166 Provencher. Opened last November.
• Unit 107, 147 Provencher (Place Joseph Royal). Plastic surgeon's office. Scheduled to open on April 1.
• Unit 101, 147 Provencher. Lawyer's office. Scheduled to open on May 1.
• Chip & Pepper. Temporary clothing store that will be open from Feb. 13 to March 15, also on the main floor of Place Joseph Royal.
• Caisse Saint-Boniface. New four-storey corporate headquarters to be built on three lots on Provencher east of Aulneau Street. Construction to begin this fall, with building to open in late 2010.