Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
City OK's another parking lot
Needed for hotel's new yoga studio
By: Bartley Kives
Posted: 10/20/2011 1:00 AM
"Last October, during the waning days of the 2010 mayoral race, Sam Katz called downtown Winnipeg's plethora of empty lots an eyesore and a public safety hazard as he pledged to extend a moratorium on new surface parking in the city's core.
Less than a year later, city hall quietly approved the demolition of the 89-year-old Orpheum building on Fort Street to make way for a new surface parking lot to serve clients of Yoga Public, the Fort Garry Hotel's new four-studio yoga centre. Heavy equipment brought down the vacant building two weeks ago. In spite of the demolition, the mayor said he remains committed to reducing the number of vacant tracts downtown, as promised during his re-election campaign.
New incentives for developers who build on surface lots should come to council in early 2012, said Katz, who called the demolition of the Orpheum "a very unique scenario" because the new surface lot was required to support a $2.5-million redevelopment of the former Carleton Club, an even larger vacant building."
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