One of the most storied buildings in Winnipeg’s Exchange District will soon make way for a new 140-unit housing development, but the structure isn’t going to disappear withou a trace.
In January, it was announced that the St. Charles Hotel at 235 Notre Dame Ave., is one of four historical buildings in the neighbourhood that will be transformed into residential housing. It has sat vacant since 2008.
Combined, the four projects have been valued at $88 million and were made possible through $4.6 million in public investment. That includes $2 million from the City of Winnipeg as part of its share of the federal housing accelerator fund and $2.65 million from CentreVenture Development Corp. and the Gail Parvin Hammerquist Fund heritage program.
One of the most interesting aspects of the redevelopment of the former hotel, which was built in 1913, is that even though the building itself will need to be demolished because of structural issues, its existing facade will be dismantled, stored and then reassembled as part of the new building. Construction of the new building is set to begin later this year and is slated to be completed over the next two-and-a-half years.
Manitoba-based Penfor Construction is working with building owner Ken Zaifman and will be overseeing all aspects of the construction including the preservation of the hotel’s brick exterior.
Penfor CEO Danny Serhal says the process of preserving the hotel’s facade will be relatively simple.
The bricks will be carefully removed prior to demolition of the hotel, stored at the company’s headquarters in Blumenort during construction, then reassembled once the new building is completed. Workers have taken detailed photos of the hotel’s exterior so that the facade can later be reassembled to look as close as possible to the original.
While the process is relatively uncomplicated, it’s not without its challenges. Serhal says because many of the bricks are in an advanced stage of deterioration they will need to be removed as delicately as possible.
“The challenge is not putting it back up and make it look like the thing that we took down. That’s actually the easy part,” he says. “The challenge is going to be making sure that you take it down in as delicate a way as you possibly can to ensure that you preserve as much of that historical brickwork as you can.”
Serhal and the building’s owner were inspired to preserve the hotel’s facade after taking a look at a pair of other buildings in the neighbourhood that had done likewise: Red River College’s Princess Street campus and a parkade located near the corner of King Street and McDermot Avenue.
“I think we have a couple of cultural motivations for taking this approach,” Serhal explains.
“One, we have this street, Albert Street, that’s part of an important film set location in Winnipeg. That street has to stay historic looking in order for it to continue to serve its purpose as a film set. The second thing is … collectively as a culture, we’re trying to preserve it because it represents an important moment in our culture, in our history.”
The suites in the new building will range in size from 400 to 1,000 square feet and will include everything from studio suites to three-bedroom units.
Serhal says he’s “super excited” to be involved in such an important project.
“Since it was announced, there’s not been a single day that somebody’s not been asking us about it which is pretty cool,” he adds.
“As much as the historical referencing piece is a part of this particular project, what I’m excited about is the opportunity to bring more housing, and in particular affordable housing, to our city. I think that’s such a deep need right now and anything we can do to help facilitate that is a good news story.”
Count CentreVenture president and CEO Rochelle Squires among those excited about the four new housing projects and their potential to transform the city and its downtown core.
“When we look at economic growth, we know that we need to create more housing in the city of Winnipeg, and in particular we need to double the density of the downtown. That’s not just for economic growth, that also advances economic reconciliation with Indigenous people, that advances housing for vulnerable individuals,” she says.
“Anytime we’re taking a vacant building and turning it into vibrant tenancies is an absolute win for the downtown and the city at large. We know the history of what happens when vacant buildings stand. They become attractants to some nefarious activity that we don’t want to see. We need to create more density to eliminate the possibility of the fires that we see in other vacant buildings and (undertake) activity that creates a pocket of safety.”
The new developments will also be a boon for restaurants and other businesses located in the area and help attract more people to the city’s downtown, she added.
In addition to the St. Charles, the Maws Garage/Sanford Development (114 units), 290 Garry St. (29 units) and Alloway Lofts (14 units) housing projects will add an additional 157 homes in the West Exchange. Of the 297 total units the four projects will provide, 106 of them will be considered affordable, meaning rents will be tied to a tenant’s income and will be rented at less than 80 per cent of the median rate.
