City and developer do a trade
July 15, 2009
Winnipeg Free Press
Written by: Bartley Kives
Land deal will impact several projects in south
WINNIPEG -- City councillors have quietly approved a land swap that could eventually transform an empty patch of Fort Garry industrial land into a new residential neighbourhood, connect Sterling Lyon Parkway to Pembina Highway and extend a bus-rapid-transit spur line toward the future IKEA development.
In a closed-door meeting Monday, council’s property and development committee agreed to give $1 million worth of city land in the Parker neighbourhood — a vacant triangle east of Waverley Street, hemmed in by CN Rail lines — to Gem Equities, a company owned by developer Andrew Marquess.
In exchange, Marquess will give up $1 million of his own land in the Fort Rouge Yards, where the city wants to expand a Winnipeg Transit garage. Marquess will then proceed with a plan to transform the industrial Parker neighbourhood into a residential district, where he hopes to build 3,500 three-bedroom townhouses.
"This is the most exciting thing we’ve ever had the opportunity to be involved with," Marquess said Tuesday, after the city published details of the plan.
When the city finalized its southwest rapid-transit corridor plans, Marquess found out he would lose some property in Fort Rouge Yards, where he hopes to build commercial and residential buildings alongside the new busway.
The land swap will allow him to develop what he described as affordable housing in another transit-oriented neighbourhood.
There are lots of one- and two-bedroom townhouses in Winnipeg, but not many with three bedrooms," he said. "This really fulfills a need of affordable places for families to live."
Along with creating more housing, the land swap will topple over a set of transportation dominoes in northwest Fort Garry.
Instead of building an underpass on Waverley Street at the CN Rail line, the city would extend Sterling Lyon Parkway northeast through the Parker neighbourhood, underneath the railway south of the Grant Park Sobey’s and then up to Taylor Avenue, where downtown-bound traffic would then flow into Pembina Highway.
"If that’s where the underpass goes, then we take away the need for one on Waverley," said Phil Sheegl, one of Winnipeg’s deputy chief administrative officers. "Traffic will no longer have to dead-end at Grant Avenue."
In order for this to happen, the city must purchase a corridor of land south of Taylor Avenue from developer Shindico and from Manitoba Hydro. Shindico will likely develop more commercial properties on its land, Sheegl said.
The plan also calls for a dedicated busway to extend west from the southwest rapid-transit corridor, where it would help feed new southwest Winnipeg developments such as Waverley West and the IKEA project.
But, Sheegl said it’s too early to assume all of this will happen. "Right now, all we’re doing is the land exchange. We don’t want to put the cart before the horse," he said.
While city planners have hoped to develop the Parker neighbourhood for decades, the Sterling Lyon Parkway and bus-corridor extensions do not appear in the city’s long-term construction plans. Many road construction projects rank higher on city priority lists, while a downtown to Transcona bus corridor is the next busway on Winnipeg Transit’s to-do list.
River Heights-Fort Garry Coun. John Orlikow said he likes the idea of diverting traffic directly onto Pembina Highway, but wants to study the plan in more detail. "I’m not sure who will pay for all this," he said.
Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt, meanwhile, said he’s upset this plan is being "rammed through" city council right before the summer break.
"We have planning on the fly. We’re putting infrastructure projects we’ve never discussed ahead of existing projects," he said.
"If the public is cynical about this, they have every right to be."
The city may be ignoring its own real-estate policy by offering Marquess the first crack at the Parker land, he charged.
"Others in the private sector were not given an opportunity to bid on what could be prime real estate, with the potential extension of the Sterling Lyon Parkway."
The land swap requires approval from Mayor Sam Katz’s cabinet today and the entire council on July 22.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
The Parker project
How the dominoes will fall if city council approves a land swap on July 22:
The City of Winnipeg gives up:
59 acres of industrial land north of Parker Avenue in Fort Garry, valued at $1 million.
Developer Gem Equities gives up:
Nine acres of industrial land in the Fort Rouge Yards, also valued at $1 million.
Winnipeg will get:
Enough room to expand the Winnipeg Transit garage west of Osborne Street.
Gem Equities will get:
Enough land to build 3,500 new townhouses.
Winnipeg and Gem will build:
An extension of Sterling Parkway east and north to Taylor Avenue, as well as an underpass below the CN Rail line.
Winnipeg will forget about building:
The Waverley underpass.
Shindico and Manitoba Hydro will sell:
A corridor of land to allow the new expressway to flow northeast.
Shindico may build:
New commercial developments along this corridor.
Winnipeg Transit will build:
A bus-rapid-transit spur line heading west from the southwest bus corridor, which may help feed Waverley West and the IKEA project.
– Bartley Kives |
