Winnipeg | Forks Redevelopment | Parcel 4 - Rail Side Initiative | Proposals

[Tacheguy]

Originally Posted by esquire

The stage was fine when it first went up and there was nothing much around there, but it just looks out of place now. But I suppose The Forks still needs it to host big outdoor events.

Incidentally, that stage is an Etienne Gaboury design...

i think the original Gaboury design involved a landscaped berm over a sunken stage. it was "value engineered" to the present effort (if memory serves)

[Tacheguy]

speaking of which, go to reddit Winnipeg and check out the phenomenal photo of the Canada games festival on Manitoba night. I was there, it was stunning..

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by Tacheguy

speaking of which, go to reddit Winnipeg and check out the phenomenal photo of the Canada games festival on Manitoba night. I was there, it was stunning..

Have a link?

After the first few days seemed slow - looks like attendance shot up dramatically. Lots of the venues are PACKED.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Have a link?

After the first few days seemed slow - looks like attendance shot up dramatically. Lots of the venues are PACKED.

It's awesome to see such great support for the games! I was amazed by the near-sellout for the baseball final.

[Tacheguy]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Winnipeg/co..._to_take_this/

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by esquire

It's awesome to see such great support for the games! I was amazed by the near-sellout for the baseball final.

i was at the baseball semi's and there was 3500'ish people there and the final had 6850 i believe. it always helps when the hometown (6th ranked) Team MB is in the final!

[Jets4Life]

I hope they put a WalMart, Superstore or Sobey's in that area. Problem with building so much residential development, is the planners do not consider that the new residents need to eat, shop, etc. That may be one of the reasons Waterfront Drive had a hard time attracting prospective tenants.

[Urban recluse]

Waterfront did not (perhaps still does not) have the density to support them.

[bomberjet]

We been through this many times. No business owner will set up shop in an area that is dead and lose money/go out of business. Vice versa, nobody wants to live where's it dead. Classic chicken and egg scenario. Seeing as Waterfront is gaining progress finally on the commercial/retail/CRU front, hopefully it translates into more people, and the whole thing reaches critical mass.

Also the reason why no major grocery store or really any retailer has set-up downtown. We'll see what comes of the grocery store plans for the three developments on Graham. All of them have said grocery store will be part of it.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

It's been 30 years: The Forks Plan is Announced

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt265wvgv8M

[Urban recluse]

I loved watching Sandra Lewis.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

We been through this many times. No business owner will set up shop in an area that is dead and lose money/go out of business. Vice versa, nobody wants to live where's it dead. Classic chicken and egg scenario. Seeing as Waterfront is gaining progress finally on the commercial/retail/CRU front, hopefully it translates into more people, and the whole thing reaches critical mass.

Also the reason why no major grocery store or really any retailer has set-up downtown. We'll see what comes of the grocery store plans for the three developments on Graham. All of them have said grocery store will be part of it.

No need to be condescending. That is your opinion. I think it would succeed.

[esquire]

I don't know where on earth you'd find a parcel of land big enough downtown to support a big-box grocer like Superstore or Walmart unless it was part of a larger development like in the podium of Skycity.

To put something the size of the Taylor Ave Walmart (store + parking lot) anywhere near The Forks you'd pretty much need to demolish Shaw Park and reroute streets. If you cut down the parking I guess you could eliminate the street rerouting part.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by esquire

I don't know where on earth you'd find a parcel of land big enough downtown to support a big-box grocer like Superstore or Walmart unless it was part of a larger development like in the podium of Skycity.

To put something the size of the Taylor Ave Walmart (store + parking lot) anywhere near The Forks you'd pretty much need to demolish Shaw Park and reroute streets. If you cut down the parking I guess you could eliminate the street rerouting part.

True, however, I'm sure that loblaws could find a way to make a tidy profit out of a smaller store that stayed well stocked. They could do the basic thing and also do a bit of a higher end product too that emphasized healthy eating without the pretentiousness of say whole foods. Because the young professional crowd that is about to appear at 300 main, TNS, and hopefully Skycity (fingers crossed) would totally go for something like that. I think they could make it work with the approximately 1600 new residents brought in by these developments. But then again, I have no idea of the economics of these things

[optimusREIM]

^ before I forget there could be forks residents that would shop there too depending on its location.

Literally every city in Europe makes the grocer thing happen with Spar and Carrefour, let's make it happen here.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by esquire

I don't know where on earth you'd find a parcel of land big enough downtown to support a big-box grocer like Superstore or Walmart unless it was part of a larger development like in the podium of Skycity.

To put something the size of the Taylor Ave Walmart (store + parking lot) anywhere near The Forks you'd pretty much need to demolish Shaw Park and reroute streets. If you cut down the parking I guess you could eliminate the street rerouting part.

Forget Superstore and Walmart. Save-On Foods knows how to do high quality grocery stores in urban areas. (Step 1: Don't include Taylor Ave's parking lot).

[esquire]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

^ before I forget there could be forks residents that would shop there too depending on its location.

Literally every city in Europe makes the grocer thing happen with Spar and Carrefour, let's make it happen here.

I agree, downtown can support a supermarket but it would probably be closer in scale to the Family Foods on Donald than a Walmart.

[GreyGarden]

A Loblaws "Independent City Market" might also be a good fit in one of those new developments. I was really impressed by the one at Shaw and King in Toronto.

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

No need to be condescending. That is your opinion. I think it would succeed.

Wasn't being condescending. Apologies if I came off that way. I was just meaning we discussed this quite a bit recently. The realities of downtown at this point in time.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by esquire

I don't know where on earth you'd find a parcel of land big enough downtown to support a big-box grocer like Superstore or Walmart unless it was part of a larger development like in the podium of Skycity.

To put something the size of the Taylor Ave Walmart (store + parking lot) anywhere near The Forks you'd pretty much need to demolish Shaw Park and reroute streets. If you cut down the parking I guess you could eliminate the street rerouting part.

I take it you have never lived in Edmonton or Calgary.