Winnipeg City Transit/Rapid Transit

[bomberjet]

I'm still waiting to hear what's going on with all the RCMP investigations and such. Seems everything on that front has gone into a giant void.

[windypeg]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

^Exactly. How can the City approve something without knowing the impacts?

But developer Joe Blow lawsuit just wants to go go go, make his money and piss off.

We should be happy the city is actually getting tough with a developer for once instead of just rubber-stamping every piece of cheap garbage that gets proposed.

[asher__jo]

Originally Posted by windypeg

We should be happy the city is actually getting tough with a developer for once instead of just rubber-stamping every piece of cheap garbage that gets proposed.

To be fair if Winnipeg continues giving developers the runaround we will never be able to attract better developers from other cities because they will see Winnipeg as not worth the risk. That the developer won in court because the city has been vague seems to be forgotten.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...ring-1.4830882

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by windypeg

We should be happy the city is actually getting tough with a developer for once instead of just rubber-stamping every piece of cheap garbage that gets proposed.

Yup. I'm in full agreement. Especially with this particular developer.

Originally Posted by asher__jo

To be fair if Winnipeg continues giving developers the runaround we will never be able to attract better developers from other cities because they will see Winnipeg as not worth the risk. That the developer won in court because the city has been vague seems to be forgotten.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...ring-1.4830882

For the longest time Winnipeg has accepted whatever any developer is willing to build. Crappy stick framed stucco junk mostly, with huge parking lots because of City by-laws. I'm more than happy if the City moves to a tougher stance on development. So they need to change some things with this development, which is fairly substantial in terms of units and people. They'll figure it out. If GEM put more time into working with the City instead of suing all of them, they'd get things done easier.

Does everyone remember when GEM built that small development on McPhillips and oops forgot to put in a park and instead put in a residential building? The City let him off the hook. Bullshit.

[asher__jo]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Yup. I'm in full agreement. Especially with this particular developer.




For the longest time Winnipeg has accepted whatever any developer is willing to build. Crappy stick framed stucco junk mostly, with huge parking lots because of City by-laws. I'm more than happy if the City moves to a tougher stance on development. So they need to change some things with this development, which is fairly substantial in terms of units and people. They'll figure it out. If GEM put more time into working with the City instead of suing all of them, they'd get things done easier.

Does everyone remember when GEM built that small development on McPhillips and oops forgot to put in a park and instead put in a residential building? The City let him off the hook. Bullshit.

Yes, my point is attracting developers from bigger Canadian cities where they are used to building to a higher quality. Again, as referenced by the court case the city is not helping itself by saying 'it's too dense'. I have to say it's very odd for a developer to make the secondary area plan instead of the city planning department like most other cities.

[Glenn99]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Yup. I'm in full agreement. Especially with this particular developer.




For the longest time Winnipeg has accepted whatever any developer is willing to build. Crappy stick framed stucco junk mostly, with huge parking lots because of City by-laws. I'm more than happy if the City moves to a tougher stance on development. So they need to change some things with this development, which is fairly substantial in terms of units and people. They'll figure it out. If GEM put more time into working with the City instead of suing all of them, they'd get things done easier.

Does everyone remember when GEM built that small development on McPhillips and oops forgot to put in a park and instead put in a residential building? The City let him off the hook. Bullshit.

The Jubilee development along Phase I of the BRT is moving at a snails pace. Why should this developer even start on another on??

[ywgwalk]

Originally Posted by Glenn99

The Jubilee development along Phase I of the BRT is moving at a snails pace. Why should this developer even start on another on??

Jubilee is a different developer now. Sunstone (FWS) - Sky Waterfront, Mere, 180 Roslyn, 825 Tache. Qualico is also building some buildings there (Metro). I don't believe Marquess is involved at all with that area anymore.

[Wpg_Guy]

I believe Sunstone took over his project mid construction.

[buzzg]

"mid-construction" says a lot. lol

[Glenn99]

Originally Posted by ywgwalk

Jubilee is a different developer now. Sunstone (FWS) - Sky Waterfront, Mere, 180 Roslyn, 825 Tache. Qualico is also building some buildings there (Metro). I don't believe Marquess is involved at all with that area anymore.

Is Sunstone taking over the whole thing? I thought they just built 2 buildings. Qualico property was bought directly from the City.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Glenn99

The Jubilee development along Phase I of the BRT is moving at a snails pace. Why should this developer even start on another on??

So two developments essentially stalled on a BRT route that was chosen specifically to spur development, maybe more due diligence should have been done and some signed agreements in place before anything even happened with phase two of the BRT!

[bomberjet]

I don't understand what the issue is with the Fort Rouge developments. People buy up these type of places in the far flung burbs like clockwork. This is right next to BRT in an established neighbourhood. Are sales the issue or something else? They've got all the road and services in place already.

[CoryB]

Both the Fort Rouge and Parker Lands developments are being done by GEM Equities.

The Fort Rouge development was originally announced as one of the first Mike Holmes backed developments in the entire country.

Then there is this:

Originally Posted by CBC Manitoba

The Holmes Group, a conglomerate of companies belonging to professional contractor and Holmes On Homes star Mike Holmes, filed a statement of claim before Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench on May 30.

The suit alleges developer Gem Equities failed to compensate Holmes for services conducted for a residential development at the Fort Rouge Yards, an infill development west of the Lord Roberts neighbourhood, alongside the first phase of the Southwest Transitway.

Source: CBC Manitoba - June 14, 2017

It might not be Fortress Development levels but it is something.

[bomberjet]

So that's all it is, GEM being GEM. I thought they were out of the Fort Rouge Yards thing? Or is it just split up amongst a couple developers now.

Also I think Mike Holmes was just a marketing thing, as he is mostly a persona from what I hear.

[ywgwalk]

Here's where Sunstone took over:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...ouge-1.3711948

The financial backer behind Gem Equities, which owns strategically important land along the Southwest Transitway, has hired a different Winnipeg developer to complete a long-delayed series of condos and apartments along the first phase of the bus corridor.

[esquire]

The ATU is threatening a transit strike over safety issues:

City bus drivers are prepared to walk a picket line in the new year as a result of Winnipeg Transit's failure to deal with increasingly violent assaults on both operators and passengers, their union president says.

The collective agreement between the city and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 expires Jan. 12, and Aleem Chaudhary said a strike is a real possibility.

Chaudhary claims Transit has attempted to minimize the number of reported assaults and that officials refuse to acknowledge drivers are being suspended for making assault claims.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/lo...501384141.html

On one hand it does seem that the ATU has become a very belligerent union in recent years, but on the other it's hard to say they don't have a point. Cops rake it in and while no one will say their jobs aren't dangerous, they do have far more effective means of protecting themselves compared to bus drivers who are sitting ducks for potential attacks. It doesn't seem as though the City has really stepped up to deal with the problem either.

[bomberjet]

I'd think they need to prove drivers are being suspended for reporting abuse. Management should be fired if that's the case. Unacceptable.

[joshlemer]

I also saw this story yesterday, where a bus driver was assaulted, then later, while the bus was completely empty and out of service and parked, she swore once. That expletive was caught on the bus's security video/audio surveillance and for that she was suspended.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...plus-1.4922286

That's pretty despicable!

[esquire]

Originally Posted by joshlemer

I also saw this story yesterday, where a bus driver was assaulted, then later, while the bus was completely empty and out of service and parked, she swore once. That expletive was caught on the bus's security video/audio surveillance and for that she was suspended.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...plus-1.4922286

That's pretty despicable!

Driving a bus is becoming riskier business in this city, and the fact that Transit doesn't seem to have the drivers' backs has to be pretty demoralizing for them.

[bomberjet]

By no means am I defending transit. But this is what happens when unions are in play. It's us vs. them. It's clear there is a divide and the suspension to the driver was a way for transit to say gotcha. Even though common sense says it's ridiculous.

I would like to know what constitutes an assault. Is this physical assault, or does it include verbal assault.