CentreVenture set to give progress report on $54M redevelopment of Public Safety Building site

Winnipeg's downtown development agency will come before the mayor's inner circle next week to provide an update on the redevelopment of an entire city block west of city hall.

City council agreed in 2021 to give CentreVenture $2.5 million worth of tax breaks over 25 years to help the downtown development agency get a $54-million redevelopment off the ground at the former site of the city's old police headquarters.

A report to council's executive policy recommended the city continue to forgo all the property taxes from a new development on the south side of the vacant block that used to house the Public Safety Building and the Civic Centre Parkade.

The south end of the site, which the downtown development agency calls the Market Lands, is reserved for some form of public use, thanks to a caveat applied to the property when its former owner transferred the land to the city in 1875.

The new development, which calls for a mix of housing, a public market and space for arts organizations, will generate about $100,000 in property taxes every year, according to a report authored by city planning and property director John Kiernan.

"The restrictive covenant over the southern third of the site limits development and has historically limited potential opportunities," Kiernan wrote in the report. 

"The request for 100 per cent of the incremental taxes over a 25-year period reflects the site restrictions that limit both ownership and the potential activities that can be accommodated in the project."

CentreVenture has proposed the construction of 102 rental apartment units on the site, with at least 30 per cent rented out at less than 80 per cent of the median market rent for the area.

The downtown development agency also intends to build an 8,000-square-foot public market and 20,000 square feet of space for arts organizations, including Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art Gallery, which will occupy a main-floor space.

There are also plans for an outdoor space to be used for summer festivals.

CentreVenture is not seeking any tax breaks for the redevelopment of the northern two-thirds of the empty block, which is not subject to the public-use caveat.

The development agency has issued a request for proposals for a private-sector development that is expected to be $100 million or more.

That site is expected to generate $474,000 worth of new property taxes for the city every year.