New CentreVenture CEO Squires tasked with reviving downtown Winnipeg development agency
Former PC cabinet minister expected to create housing, reimagine Graham Avenue and cut red tape
The new CEO of Winnipeg's downtown development agency has been asked to create more affordable housing in Manitoba's capital, and come up with a new vision for Graham Avenue after Winnipeg Transit routes move north to Portage Avenue later this year.
Those are the specific tasks handed to Rochelle Squires, who took over the reins of CentreVenture on Jan. 2.
In a broader sense, the former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister has been asked to reinvigorate the once-powerful city agency, whose effectiveness and relevance have diminished over the past 10 years.
Founded in 1999, CentreVenture effectively created Waterfront Drive during Glen Murray's mayoral administration, and transformed entire blocks of Main Street and the south Portage neighbourhood during Sam Katz's time in office.
But in the aftermath of a dispute with then mayor Brian Bowman over land assembly for True North Square in 2014-15, CentreVenture was effectively placed on the sidelines of urban renewal.
That left current Mayor Scott Gillingham with a choice: dissolve CentreVenture or try to make it relevant again. He opted for the latter, paving the way for the agency's board to bring Squires in.
"CentreVenture has a new mandate thanks to the new administration at city hall," Squires said in a Wednesday interview at the agency's office in the MacKenzie Block, a 122-year-old converted warehouse building on Bannatyne Avenue.
"Having worked on the homelessness strategy and having the housing portfolio for a few years, and really seeing how much we need more housing throughout the entire province … I found that really exciting," she said.
Hiring Squires, one of a dozen PC MLAs who lost Winnipeg seats to the NDP in the 2023 provincial election, sends "a pretty strong signal" that CentreVenture plans to resume an active role in downtown revitalization, said Jim Ludlow, president of True North Real Estate Development and a former CentreVenture board member.
"It's gone through cycles of activity and passivity," Ludlow said. "Maybe Rochelle can be a bit of an engine to bring all the other players back into downtown.… There's a lot of players that need to be involved."
Looking at inventory of downtown 'deserts'
At the start of CentreVenture's mandate, the agency devoted much of its work to developing an inventory of vacant or underutilized city properties, and matching them up with prospective developers.
Squires said she still intends to do that, albeit with a more specific focus on creating new residential housing for people of all incomes.
"I see having a good mix of market rents and affordable rents all in the same complex as part of the solution to the problem of housing and meeting people where they're at," she said.
"We're looking at an entire inventory of these so-called deserts in the downtown, whether they be surface parking lots or underutilized or vacant properties. And we're cataloging that inventory right now, and will be working with our stakeholders to see if there's projects that make sense for those parcels."
CentreVenture won't be expected to develop housing alone. Private developers, usually aided by public funds, are working on housing with non-profit organizations that deliver services to people who don't have sufficient housing.
Gillingham said the city and CentreVenture are trying to get people with construction and development expertise to advise the non-profits.
"Their focus is program delivery, and now suddenly they're into development and development processes, which is not their forté," the mayor said in an interview.
"By having those in the city who are experts at that or have experience with [development] connected to these non-profits, it can really help their project be successful and allow them really to focus on their program delivery, rather than the development of their property."
Navigating process 'a bit challenging': developer
CentreVenture also has to re-establish credibility with developers, who used to rely on the organization to help access funding for downtown revitalization projects, cut through red tape at the city, province and Manitoba Hydro, and navigate the city's urban design and heritage review processes.
"It's a bit challenging today to kind of navigate through the development process there in Winnipeg," said Bryce Alston of Alston Properties, which has completed five residential projects in downtown Winnipeg — including the James Avenue Pumping Station —and has three more in various stages of planning and construction.
"When I first moved to Winnipeg, which was just over a decade ago, CentreVenture had a powerful mandate, and they had finances and a team to really support their mandate," Alston said. "That just currently doesn't really exist."
Alston recently relocated to Calgary, where he now focuses on office conversions in what he describes as a more business-friendly environment.
He said CentreVenture still has a role to play in Winnipeg.
"Playing that role of facilitating conversations with different departments is such a critical piece of their mandate, or at least should be."
Squires said she's heard these complaints and wants to build up CentreVenture's capacity "to be that one-stop shop for developers and investors" and "offer that concierge service to anybody who's interested in a project in the downtown area, and help cutting through some of the red tape."
She has also been asked to come up with a plan for Graham Avenue, which she said will become something of a blank slate once Winnipeg Transit stops using the downtown east-west route as a bus corridor.
Ludlow, whose True North Real Estate has embarked on a $650-million redevelopment of Portage Place, said CentreVenture also has a more intangible task: creating a better perception for a downtown Winnipeg brand hampered by concerns about public safety.
"It's the same issue in every city, but some cities are better at being active and dynamic," he said.
"There's a ton of stuff that's really valuable in downtown Winnipeg and really kind of interesting to be at, but it's tired, and the message, I think, is tired."
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