Winnipeg Free Press
June 6, 2005
300 rental units planned to meet rising demand
By Mary Agnes Welch
FRUSTRATED apartment-hunters could get some relief from another large-scale apartment complex, this one planned for Windsor Park.
WRE Development plans to build 300 new rental units in St. Boniface on an oblong, four-hectare parcel of land just west of the intersection of Lagimodiere Boulevard and Fermor Avenue.
It's one of a growing number of apartment complexes planned for the city after years of drought in the rental market. Generally, the only apartments built over the last several years were "life-leases" or units meant for seniors.
Officials from WRE could not be reached. But Ross Mitchell, a planning consultant with ND Lea who is working with WRE, said there is a new demand for rental units that may make it more lucrative for developers to build.
Mitchell pointed to skyrocketing house prices in Winnipeg that have forced many young people to put off buying their first property.
"Gone are the days when you'd move from your parents' basement into your first house," said Mitchell.
The complex west of Lagimodiere will see the construction of five buildings, each four-storeys high. The suites will be high-end, costing about $850 per month for a one-bedroom unit and $950 a month for a two-bedroom.
The city's vacancy rate has hovered at about one per cent for the last couple of years, which has made it difficult for many renters to find accommodations.
Landlords and developers blame rent control for the dearth of new apartment buildings, saying it wasn't worthwhile to build new apartment buildings if they were prohibited from raising rents to a level that would allow a fair profit.
But earlier this year, the province proposed changes to the controversial rules that would give new rental units a 20-year exemption from rent caps. That's up from 15 years.
The move is meant to spur construction of new units.
2,000 apartment units
Another firm, Broadstreet Properties Ltd., already has plans to build 2,000 new apartment units in Winnipeg over the next five years.
The British-Columbia-based company built 554 new one- and two-bedroom apartments in Winnipeg in the last two years, including a seven-building development on Leila Avenue. According to data compiled by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., that accounts for most of the rental units developed in the last decade in Winnipeg.
Broadstreet plans is to build about another 400 units per year for each of the next five years.
An estimated 200 residents of Windsor Park attended a public open house recently to hash out concerns about traffic near the Lagimodiere complex.
The land is zoned for commercial development such as a big-box store or a hotel, but city planners say a medium-density residential complex fits better on the site. It would have been tricky for traffic to access a busy store or office on the site, said a city report that recommends rezoning.
And something like a big- box store would have caused more headaches at the busy intersection of Lagimodiere and Fermor.
About 30 homes back onto the complex's land. But an eight-foot fence and about 130 feet of landscaping and mature vegetation will separate the apartment buildings from the homes.
Mitchell said most people left the hearing satisfied, but the public will be able to speak again at a meeting of the area's city councillors Wednesday evening.
Councillors will likely vote then on whether to rezone the land to allow the apartment complex.