Winnipeg councillors delay decision on Somerset Building after owners argue against heritage status

The owners of Canad Inns were grilled Tuesday over their plans for a Portage Avenue building owned by the company, as councillors on the City of Winnipeg's executive policy committee grappled with whether to give the property heritage status.

At one point, Canad Inns president Lea Ledohowski and her father, company founder Leo Ledohowski, were asked point blank if the company planned to tear down the nine-storey Somerset Building, which sits on Portage between Donald and Smith streets.

The Ledohowskis appeared at EPC on Tuesday, hoping to dissuade councillors from placing any official heritage status on the building. Both pledged they would not demolish the 113-year-old structure.

A divided executive policy committee ultimately voted 4-3 for a 30-day delay on a decision to place the heritage designation on the building.

City council will now decide whether to grant the delay or make a final decision on the designation, which would protect some of the building's facades and interior features.

Canad Inns, the largest hotel operator in Manitoba, purchased the Somerset Building two years ago. The company also owns a nearby parkade, as well as the Radisson Hotel, which is next door to the Somerset on Portage, and the refurbished Metropolitan Entertainment Centre, behind the Somerset on Donald Street.

The company is planning to redevelop the Somerset Building with a mix of bars, restaurants and retail, and connect its properties together in a campus-type remodel under the name Canad Place.

The Ledohowskis say protecting some of the building's facades, stairwells, and windows through a heritage designation would stymie the development.

The heritage designation process is "frustrating," Lea Ledohowski told the committee, saying there is no mechanism to contact city officials about their concerns about it.

The Somerset Building has few outstanding characteristics worthy of heritage status, the Ledohowskis argue, and they complained a heritage designation would be an "infringement on property rights" under Canadian common law.

"Before we get into any conversation about our larger campus plans, this building does not warrant heritage designation," Lea Ledohowski said.

"There are no elements of the building I would concede for a designation."

Some of the councillors were stung by accusations there had been little communication with Canad Inns over the designation and the company's plan to redevelop the property.

St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes, who is chair of the property planning and development committee, challenged the Ledohowskis on their efforts to communicate with politicians or senior city staff about their development plans.

"Nobody here at city hall seems to know anything about this," Mayes told them, suggesting anyone at Canad could have called or emailed him about their plans or concerns.

Lea Ledohowski told the committee she had "no idea" she could have just phoned Mayes.

Mayor Brian Bowman challenged them to reveal their development plans for the property.

Canad Inns is "engaged in redevelopment plans," Lea Ledohowski told the committee, but that development plan is not ready.

"We know how to do these designation centres," Leo Ledohowski added. "This is going to be beautiful."

"Is it your intention to demolish this building?" Coun. John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) asked, to which Leo Ledohowski replied "no."

The assertion seemed to satisfy Orlikow, who says he believes the Ledohowskis will protect the important brick features of the building while doing their development.

"We have to have some trust with each other," Orlikow said. "They've done some great work.… I do not believe this building needs to be designated at this time."

Bowman declined to take a side on how he would vote on the matter, supporting the motion to send it to council, but did question whether the company's rights would be infringed by a heritage designation.

"I'm not sure that it helped their efforts to make that argument right out of the gate, but I think we should be working collaboratively as best as we can coming in," Bowman told reporters after the EPC meeting.