Thank you, rent control

Exciting news about Taurean Global Properties' plan to convert the Aldelman building on Princess Street to residential apartments.

In the CBC story, it is notable that Taurean president Doug Thiessen says he "decided to create apartments instead of condominiums because there are many condo projects in the city but a very low vacancy rate for rental units.

"There hasn't been a whole lot of rental property building for a long time, I think because of rent controls and different factors. Yet [Winnipeg has] an insanely low vacancy rate and it's gotten to the point now where it's actually worth it to build," he said.

Like how food shortages are great for agricultural commodity prices, rent control is, finally, having an unforeseen benefit on the rental market--for whatever suppliers are left standing, and for whatever consumers have enough good luck/ references to land a place.

Adelman Building, from Archiseek.com

***
Word is that a grocery store of some sort will open up on Arthur Street this year. Does this mean I no longer have to go all the way down to Dominion News to buy the Saturday Globe? This is a venture that has much potential to be successful. Quickly serve up breakfast and coffee to go, like some of the better Manhattan bodegas, and you've got a winner.

In the 'burbs for a reason

The letter to the Editor from Sheri Oberman today was not the first time the suggestion has been made that IKEA should move downtown. What's good for Route 90 is good for Portage Avenue, right? IKEA does not plan their stores for urban contexts, and do not have stores in downtown centres anywhere in the world--it is simply not a part of their business model. They build where land is easily available for sprawling floorplates and vast surface parking lots. As inexpensive and vacant as land in downtown Winnipeg is, I don't think they are going to stack their store onto seven or eight floors in our case.

People who rightly believe that large retail operations are needed downtown would be better off asking themselves if The Bay will be there in five years, instead of if the world's first downtown IKEA will be built there.

Not IKEA, c.1930s

Anyway, even out in the sticks, IKEA might indirectly be good for the city's urban quality. Through their store in Bloomingdale MN, a seven hour drive away, I was able to transform my kitchen last year, thus adding value to this 127-year-old house, and, by extention, the neighborhood around it. And, given Winnipeg's collective ignorance of æsthetic values (which produces, for one example, the blind notion of an IKEA store downtown--in a city without a metro!--is a good thing), the proliferation of good taste the store brings can only be a good, if not badly-needed, thing.

An ounce of prevention...

It is going to be exciting to see the lights on again, and the dusty forgotten exterior of one of the city's finest movie theatres restored.

A new story so big it needs two headlines fused into one for its online story:
"Met makeover about to begin Heritage building gets fresh start" - WFP

Good things can happen to vacant City-owned movie theatres when demolition-by-neglect is not the ultimate intention--as it clearly was for the Starland and Regent Theatres--and the City actually bothers to care for them.

"Although the building has suffered interior water damage over the years, McGowan and Ledohowski said the city and Canad Inns have kept it heated during the winter months for the last 20-plus years.

"So the interior is in remarkably good condition," McGowan said."

As opposed to not heating it, and its condition being remarkably bad, and thus greatly prohibitive to development. Funny how that works.

Metropolitan Theatre, Donald at Portage, c.1923

Ugly/Laid

Here is an architectural rendering, not for some forgotten wing of St. Boniface Hospital circa 1955, but for the new Caisse St. Boniface credit union in the middle of the contrivedly-titled "French Quarter" on Provencher Boulevard, near that former city's hotel de ville.

A detriment to the recent rise of Provencher Boulevard as a charming pedestrian destination, this design is entirely out of context on an urban street, featuring pointless setbacks and, apparently, no ground floor retail. It would be hard to believe that Enterprises Riel, or any proponent of Provencher's increased desirability could be excited about this institution-style snoozer.

***
And if you think it looks bad on paper...
The architect for Caisse St. Boniface, it turns out, is Stantec, the same visionaries that designed this little edifice of lasting beauty on Main Street.

Spirited entrepreneurism

Seeming pleased with the sweets Nanny is preparing to give to the children, Knowledge Bureau president Evelyn Jacks gave the NDP government high praise for the budget: I think (the tax cuts) are fantastic... [t]he message to a young entrepreneur is 'consider Manitoba as a place to do business regionally, nationally and internationally.'"

That is great to hear the Manitoba government cares for the young entrepreneur, since I have a friend who wants to open a small business in Winnipeg--you know, in a nice little space in an old character building, maybe close to the Portage and Main and its employees. Of course contractors would have to be to get the space ready, a supply company would have to fill out the stock orders, and a shipping company would need to deliver those orders. Plus staff would have to be hired to stock the shelves and work the counters at the new store, and maybe manage the place after things pick up.

It would be really great store--selling imported and specialty whiskeys, which are increasing in popularity now. Fancy Scotches, new Canadian brands--lots of selection. A real classy place.

What do you think, Greg Selinger?

The Detroit Advantage

The thing I like about a rusted-out Plymouth Voyager that is not safetied, stalls at red lights, and belches white exhaust, is that it's affordable...

The average price of a house in the city of Detroit is apparently down to some $13,000, which, by the logic frequently trolled out by provincial and city booster campaigns, gives Detroit an advantage over the comparatively über-priced Winnipeg

One gets what one pays for, and people tend to pursue things for their value, and not for the lack of it. This might explain why, for example, 62% of Canadians who said they would consider moving to Winnipeg would do it for jobs and economic opportunity, while only four per cent for the "housing affordability."

The other Globe column about the Stewart "smackdown"

Like Mr. Lett, I also read a column in the Toronto Globe recently. This one from Rex Murphy, a man who still doesn't believe that TV "news" exist for the purpose of creating Youtube-able "Oooh snap!" moments.

"Is it not convenient, then, to have comedians doing an on-air version of riding irrelevant cable TV hucksters out of town on a rail, at the same time as Congress authorizes and condemns the AIG bonuses - and fattens its own members' political fortunes with nearly $8-billion of pork spending..."

And speaking of which, Lorne Gunter, another columnist in quite another newspaper writes :
"Just who was the U.S. Senate's second-largest recipient of donations from AIG in the 2008 election cycle? Why, then-senator Barack Obama of Illinois, with over $100,000 received. And who was number one? Democratic Senator Chris Dodd ($103,000), who, as chairman of the Senate's banking committee, was responsible for inserting an amendment into President Obama's stimulus bill last month exempting all bonuses "executed on or before Feb. 11, 2009..."

Perhaps one of the "progressive" journalists, emboldened by Stewart's tounge-lashing abilities, could take on President Obama or Senator Dodd for this.

All in the game

Dan Lett joins the chorus of righteous indignation against how the now semi-nationalized AIG took bailout money and spent it on executive bonuses.

I wonder: what did anyone think AIG was going to do with the bailout money? Purchase forbearance and moral reasoning? What makes money that was mooched any more virtuous than money created?

Both the U.S. government and AIG should not be upset with the other, since they knew what they were getting into. The U.S. government should not be upset, for when they provided them with the bailout money, they were saying to AIG "what you are doing is so good, we think you should be able to continue doing it (at the expense of your betters)."

When AIG accepted the money, they agreed to the game and shouldn't be surprised politicians like Democrat Senator Tom Udall say things like “Give the bonuses back, or we’ll find a way to take them back.” That is what they signed up for.

(But maybe the U.S. and AIG didn't know what they were getting into, and thus, according to prevailing reasoning, deserve another bailout...)

Anyway, AIG Chief Edward Liddy now seems to be figuring out how it's going to work.

Get out your credit cards...

Winnipeg is getting an Apple store, which will open at Polo Park in October '09.

Friend of the nightlife

Being Thursday, former Free Press Editor-in-chief Nicholas Hirst had an opinion article, which again supported downtown and rightfully bemoaned its lack of after-bank hours vibrancy. I like Mr. Hirst's support for downtown living, but it seems from his article today that things like "[a] pub for the University of Winnipeg" are matters of political vision; as if Lloyd Axworthy, Sam Katz and some key stakeholders should (or could) sit down and plan one.

Anyway, there is a relatively new pub "for" the U of W, it's called the Lo Pub, two blocks east of campus on Ellice and Kennedy Street. So far, it has been tremendously popular when concerts are happening there, but at any other time (that I've seen), it's been practically empty save for the employees and a friend or two sitting at the bar. The pub's apparent inability to keep students downtown into the evening most likely has to do with (drumroll please) so few of its current and potential patrons living nearby the way the Toad on Osborne does. Even if there were, there is still a lack of corresponding businesses open in vicinity (corner stores, diners), to make the impact it might have on foot traffic isn't that strong.

(Then of course there is the matter of that three-block behemoth, leftover from the last time the City "made it happen," that obstruct Kennedy Street. So even if and when the Lo Pub brings young people downtown, Nicholas Hirst would never see them walking to and from it on Portage Avenue.)

Another small measure that might help, Mr. Hirst suggests, is a shuttle for Portage Avenue. Unless by "shuttle that runs along Portage" Mr. Hirst meant "subway that runs under Portage," or even "a streetcar that runs along Portage," I don't see the point. As Jimmy Cotton wrote: "There is a shuttle that runs along Portage ave already, it's called the #11 , #24 #22 and the #21 buses [sic]."

***
Several comments to this article at the Free Press, including this one: "I'm sympathetic to Mr. Hirst's observations,and his recommendations are bang on, but he overlooked the most obvious solution. Get more people living downtown, not just visiting daily. When people live downtown, the rest will come naturally. As a former downtown resident (now a downtown resident in Calgary) I spoke highly of living in downtown Winnipeg. It was terrible news that Crystal Developers backed down from their apartment development [edited]. I would have been delighted to welcome new faces to the neighbourhood."

I wonder what bad word this astute commenter used that was edited. Something with four letters that starts with "F"? Like "Fort"?

Don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

...or maybe you do. Housing starts in the Winnipeg region are down 36.4% from last year , and the Manitoba Home Builder's Association blames it on the weather:

"Manitoba Home Builders Association president Michael Moore said while builders are concerned, no one is panicking because the bitterly cold weather in January and early February kept potential buyers out of show homes.

"In the last half of February, it (traffic in the show homes) started to pick up again" with the onset of warmer weather, he said."

Does that mean that January and February 2008 were 36% warmer?

Response times

There was lots of laughs reading the story about the North Winnipeg Parkway today, especially the second paragraph:

"The North End route will improve one of the worst Winnipeg sections of the Trans-Canada Trail and "will also serve to solve a dangerous situation" that finds "children running out in front of the Redwood Bridge," according to a report authored by active-transportation co-ordinator Kevin Nixon."

That was today. Here is a a letter written by the North Winnipeg Commuter Cyclists to Kevin Nixon's office a year and-a-half ago:

"For some years the Friends of St. John’s Park trails committee and others have been working to secure a commitment from the city to complete the section of the parkway from Waterfront Drive to St. John’s Park and beyond. In May 2007, the Standing Policy Committee on Property and Development approved the group’s request to have city administration review a request to complete the portion from Redwood to St. John’s Park by a) moving the easement and b) moving the trail closer to bridge (request we presented at Riverbank & Community Committee), as per the attached PDF.

We expected this request to be given the highest priority considering the safety risks associated with the status quo and that the trail was supposed to be completed this year. The incomplete section from Redwood to St. John’s Park is particularly concerning as it almost invites cyclists and pedestrians to cross Redwood Avenue at the foot of the bridge – a very dangerous crossing."

Governments put so much effort into "moving forward" on things, they don't have time to actually get anywhere.

Gee whiz!

A buflyer200 posted some incredible, never-before-seen (by me, anyway) photos from Winnipeg Transit's archives. Here are a few:

A civil age. Passengers, c. 1940s

Looking East on Selkirk Ave. from Salter St., late '40s

Looking West on Portage from Donald St.

North on Donald Street, to Princess Avenue

South on Donald from Ellice Avenue

Portage at night, West from Fort Street

When walking the beat wasn't an "initiative." Portage looking to Main

Fort Street from Portage

Portage and Notre Dame

Looking South on Osborne to Stradbrook Avenue, c.1920s


Confusion Corner, pre-Confusion. Looking North on Osborne. The apartment block is still standing today at the NE corner of Osborne and McMillan Avenue.

Did he mention our healthy parking lot supply?

The gods of the Eastern press have finally smiled down upon Winnipeg, as the Toronto Star publishes a rather positive article by Noah Richler (son of the great Mordecai Richler) on his recent visit to Winnipeg.

Photo by St. Vital's favorite son Wintorbos of I, Ectomorph fame

Fortunately for the city's fragile sense of self, Mr. Richler avoids the "D"-words one might expect to find in a story on Winnipeg (depressing, desolate, dirty, dangerous, et c). But perhaps more hard than being embarrassed, is to take note of the means of Mr. Richler's enjoyable visit to Winnipeg: old buildings downtown, and what entrepreneurs do with those buildings (not to mention in what is locally known as the "over-development" of The Forks). Imagine that.

Working together

Cub Free Press reporter Kelly House reports that Heritage Winnipeg will be moving into the 127-year-old Kelly House on Adelaide Street, after its owner, who could not afford to renovate three months ago, will now spend $100,000 to help renovate the structure.

"One of city's oldest structures to house group promoting heritage restoration

By: Kelly House

11:25 AM |

"Kelly House, one of Winnipeg’s oldest structures, will be preserved as the new home for the organization that promotes heritage building restoration , a city hall committee heard Tuesday morning.

"The city’s downtown development agency and the owners of Kelly House announced they had reached a deal to restore the diminutive 1880s building at 88 Adelaide Street in the Exchange District..." (Continued)

It is good to see the house will be saved and used again, but this looks a little peculiar when observations made earlier this month are considered; mainly Heritage Winnipeg's lack of opposition to demolitions favored by Centre Venture over the past year, and their big support for the Kelly House (not to be confused with the new FP reporter of the same name), which, as it happens, Centre Venture did not want to see demolished either.

Good PR move for both groups.

"Facadism:"

--in theory

Letter to the editor, Free Press January 30, 2009

"We are increasingly hearing about so-called 'win-win compromise' proposals to redevelop heritage buildings by demolishing the structure, but retaining the façade. The recent proposal of Manitoba Hydro to use the approach of "facadism" to create a high voltage hydro substation and dead zone in the heart of the Exchange District is an alarming example of this dangerous road. Choosing facadism should remain an exception and never considered an easily justifiable practice. It has been declared unacceptable by the City's Historical Buildings Committee as well as various international conservation organizations.

Buildings are much more than facades, and cities more than mere collections of structures. Focusing on individual buildings is piecemeal and short-sighted, and will impoverish the historic flavour of our Exchange District.

Councillor Jenny Gerbasi
Chair, Historical Buildings Committee

--in practise

"Heritage label a surprise," Free Press, March 1, 2009

"[Sport Manitoba has] been working toward a compromise that will still allow for construction of the 29,000-square-foot fieldhouse while at the same time maintaining the facades and other historical features of the warehouse.

"'It's at the conceptual stage and there's still a need for final approvals, but the historical buildings committee is comfortable with what they're bringing forward at this point and there's sort of an approval-in-principle..."

"If there's an understanding in principle and then everything just carries on like that, then there's certainly nothing standing in the way there... the final approval still has to happen, but it's going very well.'"