Winnipeg | 300 Main St.- Phase II / 360 Main St. | ~142M | 465 Ft | 42F | U/C

[esquire]

Originally Posted by DowntownBooster

Yes, I believe SkyCity would be 575 feet whereas 300 Main would be 500 feet.

According to the thread title it will be 465 feet. We will have to keep waiting for a tower to break the 500' barrier.

[drew]

^ 464'-8" to be precise.

[esquire]

^ I like precision!

[DowntownBooster]

Originally Posted by esquire

According to the thread title it will be 465 feet. We will have to keep waiting for a tower to break the 500' barrier.

Assuming completion of 300 Main will be in 2020, it would become the tallest building in Winnipeg after 30 years when 201 Portage was completed in 1990. I sure hope we don't have to wait another 30 years after 300 Main is completed before something eclipses that building.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by DowntownBooster

Assuming completion of 300 Main will be in 2020, it would become the tallest building in Winnipeg after 30 years when 201 Portage was completed in 1990. I sure hope we don't have to wait another 30 years after 300 Main is completed before something eclipses that building.

I will literally be an old man by then... I don't want to wait quite that long.

Given the Winnipeg skyscraper building boom that lasted from roughly 1964 (when the Royal Bank Tower went up) to 1990 (when 201 Portage opened), I'm sure that people back in 1990 would have been surprised to hear that a new tallest wouldn't materialize for another generation. If interest in downtown living continues to grow, it's conceivable that we could see more tall residential buildings. I don't think many of the new skyscrapers that will eventually go up in Winnipeg are going to be coming from the office side of things.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by esquire

I will literally be an old man by then... I don't want to wait quite that long.

Given the Winnipeg skyscraper building boom that lasted from roughly 1964 (when the Royal Bank Tower went up) to 1990 (when 201 Portage opened), I'm sure that people back in 1990 would have been surprised to hear that a new tallest wouldn't materialize for another generation.

I don't know about that. For one thing, I'm not sure that very many people were aware that the TD Centre was the tallest. There seemed to be some doubt about that for quite a long time. I always assumed it was the Richardson Building. For another, there was almost no building of that kind after the Trizec complex was completed. The Bank of Montreal did build their tower in 1983 but I can't think of anything else in the 1980s. Fort Garry Place, I guess.

Actually, I always wondered why TD/Bentall built that building in such a depressed market, at exactly the same time that all the bank regional offices were clearing out of Winnipeg.

[joshlemer]

Originally Posted by DowntownBooster

Assuming completion of 300 Main will be in 2020, it would become the tallest building in Winnipeg after 30 years when 201 Portage was completed in 1990. I sure hope we don't have to wait another 30 years after 300 Main is completed before something eclipses that building.

In my opinion, tall skyscrapers seem a bit passé. All of the most charming (and livable/dense) neighborhoods that I have seen have not been made of skyscrapers, but rather in the 2-7 storey range. For example the plateau and
Mile End neighborhoods in Montreal, large parts of Quebec City and Vancouver are much(!!) more dense and livable than anywhere in Winnipeg and yet not because of having high rises.

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by esquire

I will literally be an old man by then... I don't want to wait quite that long.

Given the Winnipeg skyscraper building boom that lasted from roughly 1964 (when the Royal Bank Tower went up) to 1990 (when 201 Portage opened), I'm sure that people back in 1990 would have been surprised to hear that a new tallest wouldn't materialize for another generation. If interest in downtown living continues to grow, it's conceivable that we could see more tall residential buildings. I don't think many of the new skyscrapers that will eventually go up in Winnipeg are going to be coming from the office side of things.

I do wish taller buildings were more a norm in Winnipeg and I'm with you 100% that I hope a 465 foot tower isn't the peak of height in the city for another 30 years as Winnipeg marches towards and eventually beyond a million people, I for sure would love to see more tall towers (almost feels like such a massive development like TNS for example is a bit of a missed opportunity with regards to height, despite it being respectable in its own right...eventually bringing us 4 new towers)

But at least right now we've had a steady stream of cranes downtown since the Hydro building. Multiple Residential towers, alt, human rights museum and now TNS to 300 main; I also feel it won't be the end of cranes downtown even if there's nothing super tall on the horizon.

À steady stream is still pretty nice! I do believe that height will be achieved when the parking lots fill up and density is achieved. The ROI will warrant taller towers be it residential or future office. That's what happened in Calgary, downtown is so small and space so premium that even in downturns when something is built it has to be taller. Obviously not the entire picture as to why towers are on the taller side there or Vancouver but it is part of it.

Hopefully we keep seeing a steady stream of towers now that Winnipeg is finally hitting a sort of critical mass of CMA and steady population growth, and momentum downtown for more and more development

[DowntownBooster]

Originally Posted by drew

^ 464'-8" to be precise.

Is that the height measured from street level to top of the building or from on top of the podium to the top of the building?

[drew]

^ top of sidewalk to top of mechanical roof.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I don't know about that. For one thing, I'm not sure that very many people were aware that the TD Centre was the tallest. There seemed to be some doubt about that for quite a long time. I always assumed it was the Richardson Building. For another, there was almost no building of that kind after the Trizec complex was completed. The Bank of Montreal did build their tower in 1983 but I can't think of anything else in the 1980s. Fort Garry Place, I guess.

Actually, I always wondered why TD/Bentall built that building in such a depressed market, at exactly the same time that all the bank regional offices were clearing out of Winnipeg.

Even though skyscraper construction tailed off a bit in the 1980s, there were still a few projects that kept changing the skyline... Bank of Montreal as you mentioned, North Portage's towers in the mid 80s, some smaller and less prominent buildings like 400 St. Mary Ave., and then the grand finale, 201 Portage.

Good question as to why the TD Centre was even built in the first place considering Winnipeg's economic climate then, but we weren't alone... It seems that just about every significant Canadian city saw a major new office building or two open around 1990 before hitting a decade long slump. Even Calgary and Toronto saw barely any new downtown office development during those years. The 1980s boom must have left quite a hangover.

[DowntownBooster]

Originally Posted by drew

^ top of sidewalk to top of mechanical roof.

Thanks for clarifying that drew.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by esquire

If interest in downtown living continues to grow, it's conceivable that we could see more tall residential buildings. I don't think many of the new skyscrapers that will eventually go up in Winnipeg are going to be coming from the office side of things.

Even though this statement is likely true it seems funny that anytime we think something won’t happen the opposite occurs. After D-Condo and 300 Assiniboine were announced everyone was excited and had the same thought that we would likely not see any more large scale office construction in Winnipeg, then bam...TNS pops up with a sizeable new office building. Remember the new energy code spelled the end of glass buildings downtown.....again TNS and 360 Main reclad go all glass. I think we are full of some surprises yet.

I do agree that likely most taller structures in Winnipeg will be residential, but so are things in Toronto and Vancouver...they are turning out pretty good.

[Roger Strong]

Originally Posted by Biff

Remember the new energy code spelled the end of glass buildings downtown.....again TNS and 360 Main reclad go all glass.

Really? I thought that 360 main merely got an all-glass outer layer, not floor-to-ceiling windows which would be the point of the energy code.

I've been wondering about TNS: Are the non-transparent bits (other than right at each floor level) merely tinted class or are they properly insulated sections within the same frame?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Biff

Even though this statement is likely true it seems funny that anytime we think something won’t happen the opposite occurs. After D-Condo and 300 Assiniboine were announced everyone was excited and had the same thought that we would likely not see any more large scale office construction in Winnipeg, then bam...TNS pops up with a sizeable new office building. Remember the new energy code spelled the end of glass buildings downtown.....again TNS and 360 Main reclad go all glass. I think we are full of some surprises yet.

I do agree that likely most taller structures in Winnipeg will be residential, but so are things in Toronto and Vancouver...they are turning out pretty good.

I hope you're right... I hope there are some positive surprises waiting in the wings. But the office market in Winnipeg has been weak for quite some time, at least as far as large-scale construction goes. That's not to say that it was all doom and gloom since the 80s, though... during the 90s and 00s, a fair number of heritage buildings were converted into modern office space. Something like the old Free Press building reno and expansion in 1999 would have been a new 10-storey building in other cities.

There will always be that market segment willing and able to pay for the latest and greatest and my impression is that's what we're seeing with TNS. But yes, sometimes you get an out of the blue surprise like Hydro, which suddenly decides to build a spectacular new tower. Hopefully it won't be too long before something like that happens again.

[Jeff]

speaking of office market surprises, what ended up moving into the old IBM building behind portage place? it was vacant forever with huge FOR LEASE signs. now those signs are gone and it appears to be fully occupied. surprising just like the wheat board building being magically at over 90% leased by something..

[esquire]

^ someone pointed out that the vacant space in the CWB building was filled by GWL. As far as the IBM building goes, I seem to recall that it was leased by a provincial government department. I want to say Finance, but I'm not 100% sure.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by joshlemer

In my opinion, tall skyscrapers seem a bit passé. All of the most charming (and livable/dense) neighborhoods that I have seen have not been made of skyscrapers, but rather in the 2-7 storey range. For example the plateau and
Mile End neighborhoods in Montreal, large parts of Quebec City and Vancouver are much(!!) more dense and livable than anywhere in Winnipeg and yet not because of having high rises.

Europe says hello!~

[Biff]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ someone pointed out that the vacant space in the CWB building was filled by GWL. As far as the IBM building goes, I seem to recall that it was leased by a provincial government department. I want to say Finance, but I'm not 100% sure.

MB Finance is correct. Used to be called MIT Accommodations

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Roger Strong

Really? I thought that 360 main merely got an all-glass outer layer, not floor-to-ceiling windows which would be the point of the energy code.

I've been wondering about TNS: Are the non-transparent bits (other than right at each floor level) merely tinted class or are they properly insulated sections within the same frame?

TNS is all glass. Pretty shocking. It must have an unbelievably expensive mechanical system to compensate for that.

I wouldn’t count on 360 being all glass. Not only is it well over budget, it is much less likely that residential can afford the technology to compensate for irresponsible decisions like all glass and meet energy code requirements.