Winnipeg Retail

[Kitty Surprise]

Originally Posted by Jeff

broadway should be complete residential focus! no more offices/parking should be allowed at all.. only more high-density condo/residential.

ie: the empty lot across from the fort garry hotel @ the keg = a 20-storey condo!

ie: the lot at edmonton beside the subway = mixed use 20+ storey condo!

this city needs it but wiould it will sell?

Agreed.

Rebrand Broadway as downtown's "Grand Boulevard" neighborhood. Line both sides of Broadway with mixed use podium-style highrise condos & apartments. Attract shops services & restaurants that cater to these residents. Build a sobey's/extra foods on one of the many parking lots nearby.

Downtown's too large. Changing Broadway to Residential will create an exciting and inviting new downtown Residential district PLUS will also help to condense the remaining commercial areas of downtown.

Everyone wins. Problem solved.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by Kitty Surprise

Agreed.

Rebrand Broadway as downtown's "Grand Boulevard" neighborhood. Line both sides of Broadway with mixed use podium-style highrise condos & apartments. Attract shops services & restaurants that cater to these residents. Build a sobey's/extra foods on one of the many parking lots nearby.

Downtown's too large. Changing Broadway to Residential will create an exciting and inviting new downtown Residential district PLUS will also help to condense the remaining commercial areas of downtown.

Everyone wins. Problem solved.

you can see the new foucs on portage ave, but i'm thinking a strategical, residnenial densification would win in the end..

[Biff]

Originally Posted by newflyer

I have heard that there has now been an expression of interest of around 1.5 million square feet of space for the Elms development, which is double the amount of space available. Looking very promising consider the remaining weak state of the global economy.

With the constrcution timing issue now put aside Creswin is now working to complete various lease transactions. I am really looking forward to seeing this development deliver many new retailers to our city.

See, i don't understand this, and that is why i think Asper's plan will fail. 1.5 million sq ft of space is equal to the entire space of Polo Park Mall, which is Winnipeg's biggest mall. So in essence, Asper is planning on finding enough tenants to fill a large mall right next door to the city's premier large mall that is having troubles filling space vacated by Safeway.

......hmmmmmmmm

[Bdog]

Originally Posted by Biff

See, i don't understand this, and that is why i think Asper's plan will fail. 1.5 million sq ft of space is equal to the entire space of Polo Park Mall, which is Winnipeg's biggest mall. So in essence, Asper is planning on finding enough tenants to fill a large mall right next door to the city's premier large mall that is having troubles filling space vacated by Safeway.

......hmmmmmmmm

I agreee, but at the same time, most of the retailers in that development will likely have much larger floorplans than the small stores at Polo Park... Easier to find say 30 or 40 larger tennants than 200+ small ones like at Polo...

[grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by Biff

See, i don't understand this, and that is why i think Asper's plan will fail. 1.5 million sq ft of space is equal to the entire space of Polo Park Mall, which is Winnipeg's biggest mall. So in essence, Asper is planning on finding enough tenants to fill a large mall right next door to the city's premier large mall that is having troubles filling space vacated by Safeway.

......hmmmmmmmm

It's not entirely difficult to believe. The proposed mall may well serve pent up demand for a higher-end product that has not been widely available in Winnipeg.

As for the real estate, Polo Park is completely surrounded, for many, many city blocks, with retail. Those retailers likely planted their roots in the area because Polo Park attracted so many shoppers. They all seem to be doing okay.

How many peeps argued against the big box development along south Kenaston? I'd be willing to bet many predicted dire consequences for retail in Winnipeg when they showed up.

I remember the wails of despair when they announced Costco there. After all, there was another Costco store just down the road near Polo Park. Ever tried getting into either of these two locations on a weekend?

Same whiners have also decried the imminent doom machine that will be the Ikea development.

Let's let natural selection decide who wins and who loses...

[RTD]

Originally Posted by grumpy old man

It's not entirely difficult to believe. The proposed mall may well serve pent up demand for a higher-end product that has not been widely available in Winnipeg.

As for the real estate, Polo Park is completely surrounded, for many, many city blocks, with retail. Those retailers likely planted their roots in the area because Polo Park attracted so many shoppers. They all seem to be doing okay.

How many peeps argued against the big box development along south Kenaston? I'd be willing to bet many predicted dire consequences for retail in Winnipeg when they showed up.

I remember the wails of despair when they announced Costco there. After all, there was another Costco store just down the road near Polo Park. Ever tried getting into either of these two locations on a weekend?

Same whiners have also decried the imminent doom machine that will be the Ikea development.

Let's let natural selection decide who wins and who loses...

Agreed. I hope that now that this is going ahead, that H&M will finally set up shop in town now that ample retail space is available for them with this new development alone.

[Biff]

I don't think it will be doom and gloom for any retail establishments in the Polo Park area because of the Elms. I just don't know how they are supposed to attract that many different retailers that are not already located in the Polo Park area.

[DowntownWpg]

You guys should be sure to check out a recent post on Slurpees and Murder regarding Portage Place... he even put together a parody television commercial for the mall. He also summarizes the sad history of Portage Place very well:

http://slurpeesandmurder.blogspot.co...e-but-not.html

[newflyer]

Originally Posted by Biff

See, i don't understand this, and that is why i think Asper's plan will fail. 1.5 million sq ft of space is equal to the entire space of Polo Park Mall, which is Winnipeg's biggest mall. So in essence, Asper is planning on finding enough tenants to fill a large mall right next door to the city's premier large mall that is having troubles filling space vacated by Safeway.

......hmmmmmmmm

I am assuming you have been to the Polo Park area more than a few times.
How many millions of Sq Ft of retail are in the area now? 5, 6 or more?? There is still demand for space.

Asper / Creswin are planning on adding 650,000 sq/ft to the area. That would be around 10 or 12% increase to the area.

[Biff]

^^^ Yeah, i get it, and i work near that area so i am there a lot. I realize that Asper's mall is only a small percentage of the total Polo Park area but the area keeps growing by manageable amounts. 20,000 sq ft for the new Hockey store is manageable, 650,000 sq ft for a new mall similar to Polo Park Shopping Centre is not, in my opinion.

[grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by Biff

^^^ Yeah, i get it, and i work near that area so i am there a lot. I realize that Asper's mall is only a small percentage of the total Polo Park area but the area keeps growing by manageable amounts. 20,000 sq ft for the new Hockey store is manageable, 650,000 sq ft for a new mall similar to Polo Park Shopping Centre is not, in my opinion.

I don't get it. Why not?

[Biff]

Originally Posted by grumpy old man

I don't get it. Why not?

How come the old arena site development hasn't got off the ground yet? it seems like even more prime real estate than the stadium site?

[Kinguni]

Originally Posted by Biff

How come the old arena site development hasn't got off the ground yet? it seems like even more prime real estate than the stadium site?

Nothing better than transporting visitors to the city who choose Transit down one of the roughest stretches of road in Winnipeg (Empress between St. Matthews and Rapelje) past the lifeless Stadium and the vacant lot of the old arena. I thought a plan was in place for developing that property?

[jmt18325]

Polo North (as it is called) will be developed, but the recession has (last I heard) put it over a year behind schedule.

[Jammon]

Sketchers Shoes is moving into Polo Park as an FYI. Also, to respond to Biff's comment about Polo Park not being able to find tenants to fill the space vacated by Safeway; this notion is completely false. My sister manages a store at PP and she constantly complains about the lack of vision that PP management have in attracting new merchants. She also managed a store at St. Vital and she always talked about how great the mall management were over there- the ways in which they bent over backwards for their mall tenants. I also know another store manager at PP who echoes the same statements- that the management team carry a sense of entitlement as if "you should be proud to have a store at PP". There is no real active recruitment of new merchants and they frequently drop the ball in attracting interested merchants. H&M were more than willing to move into the Safeway area if Cadillac Fairview was willing to renovate the area to their specifications, but they refused to play ball. That is why H&M are delayed in entering the Winnipeg market. If anyone should be blamed, it would be the management team at PP.

[Biff]

Interesting ^^^

I wouldn't have thought that about Polo Park management.

[Bdog]

Originally Posted by Biff

Interesting ^^^

I wouldn't have thought that about Polo Park management.

Yeah, me neither... As for the earlier quote about St Vital management, I would disagree that they bend over backwards for their tennants. I've had friends at many stores who say the dealings when their leases were up were not very amicable at all. As a result (and due to almost doubling in rents), many staples of the mall (Champs, Athletes World, the Disney Store, etc) have left St. Vital in the past few years...

[mileena]

It's true about PP's management. I worked in the mall for awhile about 3 years ago and my manager was always complaining about the management to. I worked in St. Vital before that and never heard anything bad about management.

My manager complained mostly that PP never bothered to do anything to attract more people to the mall. This was before the renovations started. PP wouldn't allow "sidewalk" sales or any other type of promotions. St. Vital is constantly putting on extra events from music to the book and antique sales to contests. These all create excitement which doesn't exist at PP.

I haven't been to PP for awhile but I've been wondering what will go in the McNally Robinson space? I would think that would be prime space for H&M but maybe a bit too small? It's outside entrance makes it a key space in PP.

I think the Safeway location hasn't been spoken for because it's god awful. Nobody ever goes down that far. I was amazed when I heard H&M wanted it. I would never any store I owned it there, no matter how much of a draw it would be on it's own. H&M has to think about the next 10 years, not just the first year when it'll be packed.

[Jammon]

Just heard that Polo Park is adding Forever 21 and BCBG Max Azria where the old Safeway used to be. Not that guys would be interested in either of these stores! Also, just a quick inquiry: does anyone know which stores are being added at the Unicity Smart! Centres? They have built two new stores and it looks like they are breaking ground for the third. Just wondering if any one knows the scoop?

[Kinguni]

Originally Posted by Jammon

does anyone know which stores are being added at the Unicity Smart! Centres?

Staples is one of them. Not sure on the others.