True North, Southern Chiefs sign partnership they say will be catalyst to revitalize downtown Winnipeg
CBC
Two major redevelopment projects in downtown Winnipeg joined forces on Tuesday in what Grand Chief Jerry Daniels called "an act of true reconciliation — economic reconciliation."
True North Real Estate Development, the real estate arm of the company that owns the Winnipeg Jets, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Southern Chiefs' Organization, which represents 34 Anishinaabe and Dakota First Nations in southern Manitoba.
The partnership will co-ordinate their projects "to shift the current spiral of Winnipeg's downtown," said True North Real Estate president Jim Ludlow.
True North has been working on a proposed redevelopment of the Portage Place shopping centre that would turn it into a downtown campus with a health-care tower, residential housing and community centres.
The plan also calls for the glass-enclosed atrium at Edmonton Street to be dismantled, while the middle of the mall would be converted into community centres, offices for community organizations and a small amount of space for retail and food services.
Ludlow said True North is now considering designating 50 per cent of the residential units as affordable housing in the new True North campus.
The SCO is in the midst of transforming the former Hudson's Bay Company building across the street from Portage Place into Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn — "It is visible" in Anishinaabemowin.
The mixed-use project includes 300 affordable housing units for elders and university students, an HBC museum and two restaurants.
There are also plans for an art gallery, office space for Indigenous entrepreneurs, a health centre, a child-care facility, a seniors centre, a new seat of government for the SCO and a memorial for residential school victims and survivors.
Public art, signs and the names of the facilities within the two projects will reflect Manitoba's First Nations population, Ludlow said.
The SCO initially pegged the cost of its project at $130 million but that was upped on Tuesday to approximately $200 million, while the Portage Place plan has increased to $650 million from $550 million.
Daniels said the financing for the SCO project still needs to be worked out. Ludlow says Portage Place will be financed privately.
"When we started to think about acquiring HBC, we knew this gift could change our future and the lives of our citizens," said Daniels, who heads the SCO.
"We, together, will work to make downtown Winnipeg a vibrant, livable, workable and safe place. We are taking on the revitalization of downtown Winnipeg."