Winnipeg | 185 Smith St | Smith Street Lofts
 

Smith Street Lofts
Location: 185 Smith St Winnipeg, MB
Developer: Edison Properties
Architect(s) : MMP Architects Inc.
Construction Manager: Akman Construction Ltd.
Status: U/C
Description: Former social housing complex being retrofitted to mix of 250 market-rate rentals and affordable units, renovations expected to be completed in 2021
Media: Smith Street tower will 'look like a very different building'

The Smith Street Lofts project is a revitalization to the former Manitoba Housing building located at 185 Smith Street. The intent is to revamp the building with modern double storey loft apartments. The building comprises of 18 floors of residential units with 2 floors of commercial/active/amenity space. 60% of the exterior masonry walls will be removed and replaced with curtainwall and balconies.

https://i.imgur.com/RjgDWcx.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/KFtVVHr.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/H6VfLTg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/pGEDOpN.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/kCepjlP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8JQcUZz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/58T0RqR.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/iw4jl3z.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VFoDPAl.jpg

Are there any renderings of what it's going to look like at street level?

None yet

Sheesh, that rendering looks nice. Very ambitious stuff.

^ You must be seeing something I'm not. What rendering? The close up of the balconies at the top?

^Yes. Looks like 2 story units. Building doesn't look anything like the current form. Which is great. Seems like the building will be torn down to just the concrete structure.

They've dug up a monster hole in front of the whole building.

I'm so excited for this. I couldn't stand looking at high rise residential in the heart of downtown being empty any more. It looks beautiful from the few renderings we've seen but obviously want to see more.

So far there's a big hole ripped in the side near the top of the building (side facing east) where they've taken some of those pictures. Is that going to be the first suite / "demo suite" or whatever? Are they starting that so soon?

Depending on price may actually consider living there. Excellent, excellent location. Closer to everything for me than current (BroAss) is (though prob a bit louder) Assuming they've gotten rid of all the asbestos etc lol (I think thats why it was essentially condemned originally?).

I need more info on this building :violin: :uhh: Its my fav project right now after 300 Main (so happy something being done with it)

There was a major flood that apparently destroyed all equipment at the basement level. Beyond that it was a Manitoba Housing building with major issues and despite 24 hour security police were on site regularly.

https://i.imgur.com/rovb85K.jpg
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2W3NoPHDU9/

This is a really exciting project. It was near gravel-lot-at-Portage-and-Main level bad, in terms of being empty and derelict. Nice to see it getting a substantial second life.

wow so I was way.. way off.
so they just said "f--k it" after the mechanical equipment was destroyed? Or was the damage so bad that reparing it wasn't an option.
if it was already discussed sorry just confuses me that it was left that long and in that state afterward - especially since it was needed Manitoba Housing.

I'm interested to see what the base is going to look like now that they've knocked down the non-tower portions of the building.

I admit I'm starting to get excited about this one... for so long, the library park was kind of overshadowed by the shabby vibes coming from that building which was beset by social problems. A top to bottom renovation of the tower will really change the feeling of that part of downtown.

Simply the process of this one alone is impressive. COnsidering the size and of course the known state of the building, I expected maximum and exterior paint job or some form of lipstick on a pig, but getting the inside mostly right.

But instead they attempt this. Bravo.

Mb housing fixed the mechanical problems at a cost of over 3M after they evicted all the tenants, they obviously did not want to pour more money into building renovations as it was in need of very expensive and extensive renovations, so they sold it on the open market. You can see the state of repair the building needed from the current construction going on, the proceeds from the sale were to be reinvested in other mb housing sites across the province.

https://i.imgur.com/8flIH2I.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TriSgPM.jpg
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2mAChugDNb/

https://i.imgur.com/SlzPgem.jpg
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3LO8Mhg47j/

Construction in reverse...I love it.

It absolutely baffles my mind that removing the exterior of that building brick by brick and gutting the whole thing is cheaper than blowing it up and building new. I wish I understood the economics of highrise construction and development better, like how is it cheaper to tear 60% of a building down and rebuild it than it is to build everything new? It looks so time and labour intensive to do it this way.

So crazy!