Another big investment, but not in the Wheat City

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/09/2024 (554 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder why we continue to wait for it to be our turn.

Yesterday morning, True North Real Estate Development announced it has reached a deal to buy the Portage Place mall in downtown Winnipeg. The project will convert 1.2 million square feet of retail space into a $650-million multi-use facility that will include housing, a massive health-care tower, a main-floor grocery store, community centres and office space for social agencies and other services.

In addition to the health-care tower, a 15-storey residential tower will be constructed in partnership with the Southern Chiefs Organization. It will contain 216 housing units, 40 per cent of which will be affordable housing.

All three levels of government are pouring millions of dollars into the project. The Manitoba government has signed a letter of intent to lease the health tower and fund medical services, at an estimated cost of approximately $77 million annually.

Beyond that, the federal government is contributing $10 million toward the project, plus an additional $17 million via the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The housing portion of the project will also receive $10 million from the City of Winnipeg through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, combined with an additional $30 million in tax incremental financing and infrastructure commitments.

That’s a lot of taxpayer dollars going into a project that advocates hope will transform a decaying downtown mall into a vital cornerstone of downtown revitalization in Winnipeg.

Viewed from here in Brandon, which also has a struggling downtown mall and surrounding area in dire need of revitalization, some obvious questions come to mind:

Why isn’t a project like this happening in Brandon? Why are senior levels of government so consistently willing to invest millions of dollars in reviving downtown Winnipeg, but so few dollars in reviving downtown Brandon?

Where is the fairness? Why are Brandonites’ tax dollars being used, yet again, to prop up downtown Winnipeg? When will we finally get our fair share?

Those are the questions many Brandonites ask every time a large, taxpayer-funded project is announced for Winnipeg, but they miss a vital point: Big, publicly funded projects don’t just magically happen. They require vision, commitment, community partnerships, detailed plans and a ton of hard work.

The remaking of our beleaguered Town Centre into a facility similar to the planned Portage Place project would be transformative for downtown Brandon. There is no evidence, however, that such a plan is even on anybody’s drawing board, let alone being pitched to the three levels of government for funding.

There are bare pieces of land in downtown Brandon that the city can’t seem to give away. There are large commercial properties on high-visibility locations that have been for sale for years. There is a huge amount of vacant retail space. Despite all that opportunity, nothing appears to be happening. Nobody is articulating a vision for growth and revitalization, let alone a concrete plan to make it happen.

A few months ago, I wrote that economic growth and innovation is happening in other communities throughout the province, but that it’s easy to get the sense that Brandon is missing out on that activity. The evidence in support of that perception continues to mount.

In June, it was reported that construction of a 25,000-square-foot film production studio has begun in Niverville, with plans to add another 90,000 square feet.

Just two weeks ago, it was reported that the provincial and federal governments have committed a total of $272 million toward the construction of a solar glass manufacturing plant in Selkirk. The facility would create 279 jobs in that city and be the only North American factory that produces glass for solar energy.

Projects like that aren’t happening in Brandon. For at least the past two decades, we have consistently missed out on viable opportunities to grow our tax base and create good-paying jobs. We have invested millions of dollars for the purpose of attracting new businesses to the city, yet have precious little to show for that investment.

My mom had a saying that may apply here: “The difference between the haves and the have-nots is the dids and the did-nots.” What she meant was that you won’t accomplish anything if you don’t put in the effort to make it happen.

Before we complain about all the projects and investments that are happening in other communities, and imply or allege that we are being short-changed, we should first ask what is being done to make similar projects and investments happen here in Brandon. If the answer is “not much,” we know what the problem is.