Winnipeg’s Union Station has been called one of the jewels of the city’s architectural landscape and a piece of that gem is available for lease.
Just over 120,000 square feet of space recently came up for lease in the historic building located near the intersection of Main Street and Broadway. That includes 12 office units that range in size between 1,100 and 31,000 square feet on the station’s second, third and fourth floors. Those spaces are currently being updated with new lighting and a heating, ventilation and cooling system, and will be ready for occupancy sometime next year.
Jino Distasio, a professor of urban geography at the University of Winnipeg, says the station offers a great opportunity for the right tenant.
“I’m an urbanist at heart and I love the classic urban architecture, so to me it’s a real gem if somebody’s interested in a central heritage space that is well situated,” Distasio says.
“For somebody like some small enterprise, an up-and-coming tech company or just somebody looking for what I would hope would be affordable downtown space, it’s a location that would be hard to beat for its uniqueness. You’re in a heritage train station, you’re downtown, you’re near The Forks. The locational attributes of it are outstanding.”
Most of the available office space came up for lease about a year ago. A large portion of it was previously occupied by Environment Canada, which moved to a new location last year.
Union Station is owned by Via Rail, a federal Crown Corporation that also controls passenger rail service and the train shed located adjacent to the station. The leasing agent for the building is Avison Young, which is acting in a similar capacity to lease surplus space for Via at its stations in Halifax and Vancouver.
Wes Schollenberg, Avison Young’s senior vice-president, says there has been “quite a bit of interest” among prospective tenants since the property came up for lease. No deals have been signed yet due in part to the fact that none of the office spaces will be ready for occupancy for at least six months to complete system upgrades to the building’s interior.
Part of the appeal of Union Station is the fact that the landmark building’s interior has been carefully preserved since it opened to the public in 1912, including its stunning rotunda, Schollenberg says. It offers a panoramic view of the surrounding area including glimpses of treelined Broadway, The Forks and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. It’s also located just a short walk from The Forks and multiple nearby bars and restaurants.
“The building is unique and it’s much like the (Manitoba) Legislative Building or the old Manitoba courts building as far as the charm. Those are wellpreserved and modern buildings that continue to be very useful,” he says.
Schollenberg notes that there are several redevelopments in the works for Union Station, including construction of a brand-new gym in the building’s basement. The gym will be available to tenants and their employees for a low monthly fee, he adds.
Union Station received a national historic designation in 1976, meaning it must follow strict guidelines for any renovations to its exterior. Schollenberg isn’t concerned that designation could scare off prospective tenants since it doesn’t greatly impact upgrades to the building’s interior.
“You can’t touch the outside of it, you can’t touch the overall envelope of it as far as the look goes, but the office space itself is completely modern. It’s a wide open, bright space,” he says. “You can have whatever (interior) design you want. It could accommodate a law firm, it could accommodate a school, it can accommodate an accounting firm. It can accommodate any number of things. It’s a very modern building as far as systems go.”
So, who might be moving into Union Station? Right now, it’s anybody’s guess. Distasio speculates the most likely candidates are business offices, government agencies or not-for-profit institutions. However, he says its also possible Winnipeggers could see a return to the mid-1990s when Union Station briefly experimented with a retail mall concept.
There are two pending developments in the area that could go a long way in influencing prospective tenants to move into the historic building. Winnipeg Transit’s master plan calls for Union Station to become a flagship mobility hub for its bus rapid transit system, something Distasio says could bring a lot more folks to Union Station and create new opportunities for any businesses located there.
The nearby Railside at The Forks residential development, which could be home to more than 2,500 people as well as various commercial, retail and public spaces, could do likewise, he adds.
A look back at Union Station
When Union Station opened to the public in 1912, the Manitoba Free Press called it the most modern railway terminal in the world. More than a century later, people continue to marvel at its architectural grandeur and monumental scale.
Built on behalf of the Grand Trunk Pacific and the Canadian Northern Railways, construction of Union Station began in 1908 and was completed in 1911. The building was designed by Warren and Wetmore, the same architectural firm that was responsible for the design of New York’s famed Grand Central Station. Its design draws from the Beaux-Arts architectural style which is known for its lavish, highly ornamental and formal approach to design. Some of its characterdefining features include the use of classical elements on a heroic scale designed to make the observer feel small, a domed central rotunda and the Tyndall limestone used on its exterior.
When it was built, Union Station was one of Western Canada’s largest railway stations and welcomed thousands of immigrants upon opening. At the time of construction, it was regarded as a symbol of the confidence of the railway industry and the government in the continued growth of Western Canada.
That was reflected in an article published in Construction magazine in 1908 that said: “It marks a history-making epoch in the growth of our western country.”
Union Station was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1976. Because of its heritage status, Parks Canada requires any restoration work on the building to follow the Government of Canada’s Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada as well as regulations in the Canada Transportation Act.
During its heyday back in the 1970s, dozens of trains used to arrive and depart from Union Station in a typical week when it served as a connecting point for major routes like the Super Continental (Toronto to Vancouver) and the Canadian (Montreal/Toronto to Vancouver). Today, it handles just three arrivals and three departures most weeks.
