Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 10, 1973, Winnipeg, Manitoba A. Clark company us ital a Manitoba company established 1928 office equipment sales service 326 William ave., Winnipeg 942-2201 Winnipeg free press business report tuesday july 10, 1973 Burnell motor co. 1965 Ltd. 255 Burnell 775-2486 Austin my Triumph author tits troll in by Monif Dilir be sees predicted 73 building Boom fizzling by Jane 1ieckkk Winnipeg s predicted building Liurni fur Sim ply has t this is the opinion based in fad of the Winnipeg build ers Exchange which rep resents Llic bulk of contractors doing commercial Anil Industrial building in Mani Toba. A few months ago the main problem of the Exchange s in c in hers was finding construction workers to fill the expected Johs this summer. In Jan uary building was to he up As much As seven iter cent from last year s total to about s205 million for the year. Instead Exchange executive director Gervin Greas Ley reported last week contracting firms Are looking for work. A lot of the building plans for he private sector arc so far just plans with he t o i d business report. Provin Cial building projects arc also below what was expected and housing has been Little More than disastrous with less than one third the number of starts in the first four months of this year that we had in 1972." a record 12 contractors working in the province have gone bankrupt so far this year he reports Leav ing total liabilities of about s2 million and those still in business arc beginning to look at tender Calls in neighbouring provinces and the Northwest territories from Jasper to Ignace and j to Bishr Bay. Statistics Canada figures show that housing starts in Winnipeg were Down 71 per cent from he similar year earlier period in the first four months of 1973. Building permits for com m e r c i a i and Industrial structures dropped 20 per cent in the same period. Instead of the predicted near 10 per cent increase in housing starts this year the More realistic prediction now is for a four per cent increase. For the first four months of 1973, Winnipeg building permits dropped by million from the previous year to million Al though in the month of april they were actually up nearly million from a year earlier totalling million compared with the million of april 1372. But although housing starts have been drastically Down to about in the first four months from a year earlier in Manitoba the drop in inst tit National and government building is particularly serious. The value of such permits dropped 70 per cent in the first third of the year from million in 1972 to million. It s particularly serious for the construction Industry because in Mani Toba in contrast to All other provinces except Saskatchewan Public construction accounts for More than half the value of All building per cent against a Canadian average of 42 per cent. About the Only area where construction gained during the period was ill warehousing and Public parking says or. Greasley and that s just a drop in the the gain in this area was substantial however t o million this year from million in first third. The reason for the provincial Holdback in building in t easy to explain. Hous ing say the House builders is being stalled by the City s refusal to approve zoning plans. One House building official recently charged that Only 43 lots were released by City officials for building in the first three months of 1973, compared with such lots in he similar period last year. There arc instances say the builders of sub division plans being stalled for As Long As eight months wait ing for City zoning approval. In the meantime Mort Gage interest rates Are zooming up and House prices in some areas have increased by 25 per cent from a year ago. The drop in business building is also difficult to explain. Maybe people just Don t have enough Confidence in the province As a growth area for business and Industry in the suggests or. Greasley. There were All sorts of excuses for stalling earlier in the year including uncertainty about provincial politics. But now that the election is Over there seems Little reason to delay projects any longer. We still Hope for a rebound later this year Hough it won t be As great As we Manitoba building per mils could total about million this year including housing Public and private buildings says the build ers Exchange. Hut this is Only about half the original projected increase t r o m last year s million. About the Only area where building contracts have held up or. Grease a reports is in Federal eminent pro cals. Renova t i o n s to armed forces bases and other Public buildings and Black lop Ping of Large stretches of federally maintained roads have been about the most buoyant sector of the build ing business. Labor troubles Are an other hold up. Multi Trade bargaining with the mechanical contractors Asso continued on Page 13 spotlighted this Issue As construction activity in Winnipeg s Dot flown Core reaches an unprecedented value of More than million in hotels office buildings apartment blocks and government buildings the Boom expected for the rest of Winnipeg has fallen through. For the first four months of the year housing starts were Down 71 per cent. Building permits for commercial and Industrial structures dropped 20 per cent and government spending has decreased seriously. This Issue of business report spotlights activity in the City s Core and looks at the problems con tractors in the province am experiencing As build ing permits decrease by million to Mil lion for the first Quarter. Lakeview plans Mullion for downtown area Jack Levit president of Lakeview properties Ltd., and Samuel Linhart executive vice president. Liy Elaine Brown Lakeview properties Ltd. Plans to develop million Worth of property in the next five years in the downtown area Jack Levit Lakeview president said recently. We Are developing million a year and have enough property to Sec us through about five or. Ocvil said in an interview. Included in the development will be hotels parking space office space and we arc also very interested in connections at the 10-foot level. Whenever we plan a development we also plan pedestrian connections. Ave arc zeroing in slowly but surely on properly to connect Kalon s Ami the Bay Wilh the Conven Tion Centre and our lie said. S a nine i Linhart executive vice president of Lakeview said he ultimately visualized climate controlled skywalk connections Between All major develop ments in the downtown area. Or. Linhart said lie also Tui two major National hotels being built in the downtown area in addition to another department store lie declined to say which hotels were considering building in Winnipeg and said the discussions Wilh the department store arc still very Uncertain. The hotels and department store would not necessarily be on Lakeview property. Lakeview properties controls the equivalent Block of properly to the West of the convention Centre in addition to Lakeview Square on the East. Linhart said Progress on Lake View Square is progressing three years ahead of anticipation. The anticipated completion Date had been 1977 but now lie expects the site to be completed in the fall of. 197-1. I e a s i n has materialized much faster than we had anticipated particularly the office he explained. There is a total of Square foul of space in the three office buildings being constructed of which Over two thirds has been spoken for. One of the office buildings one Lakeview Square has been completed and is now occupied. Construction on two Lakeview Square Lias started and will be completed in Lato 3973. All the space in this building is spoken for. Three Lakeview Square is the 19 Storey office building one and two la review Square arc both six storeys with Square feet. Construction has started on this building and is scheduled for completion in late 1974. Half of the Lea Sable space in tiie building is now spoken for. Also under construction now is the underground parking lot which will accommodate 500 cars. This is scheduled for completion this fall. The Holiday inn a hotel is expected to open in october. Holiday towels a 25-Storcy 2s4-suite apartment Block is virtually Complete now and is half leased every Avail Able suite for immediate occupancy is one. The recent plumbers strike and the on going operating engineers and elevator strikes Aro delaying the final completion. Leasing in Holiday towers is six months ahead of leasing expected or. Linhart said. The Success of that building has Trig gered the building of a second Tower Holiday towers South which is now under what has really made the Complex is the. Integrated idea of being Able to live work and play in the same area. There is no other Complex to compare that offers such a completely integrated environment. The connection Wilh the convention Centre also adds considerably to its attractiveness. There will be 24-hour activity in the Square. It will be continually Lake View built a Complex of the size of Lakeview Square in the downtown area because they Felt there was a need or. Linhart said. When you look at the other cities in Canada such As Calgary and Edmonton you realize How far behind we Are 14-Block Core base for redevelopment by John Mcmanus at the rate of develop ment in the 14-Block area bounded by main Street Edmonton Street St. Mary s a v a n u e and Broadway place Louis Hiel will soon be a Pioneer on the designated site. Keying on the million convention Centre to open in 1974 during Winnipeg s Centennial year the old Centre South Core that once held comfortable Homes and later decaying Rooming houses is look ing More Ami More like a catalyst that will form As a foundation for redevelop ment of the cily. This month there was a report that six or seven developers controlled about acres of land in Winnipeg with the City of Winnipeg holding about 800 acres for its share in contributing to a 10 or 20-year development program. A visit to lie much Dis cussed 14-Block area shows that several private developers Are making Good use of the land they bold and leading the Way in banish ing the blight of the Down town area. The convention Centre if properly managed promoted and serviced will be in a setting of hotels office and residential complexes that will be the envy of other Canadian cities. The most notable will be Lakeview properties Ltd s Lakeview Square with its 17-Storey Holiday inn Lions ing 400 rooms. The hotel a joint project with common wealth Holiday inns of can Ada should be ready for occupancy on the eve of Winnipeg s cd Glennial. The Square also includes an apartment building a 12-Slorcy office Tower and a six Storey office building. A japanese Garden will soften the area covering a 4 0 0 c a r parking garage. The Over All plans include another apartment building and office building. It s understood Lakeview has other plans in the area around the convention Centre. Other developments sparked by initial develop ment venture near the convention Centre Are the six Storey Beacon Hill Lodge a nursing Home operated by Beacon Hill lodges of Canada and the House of York a development of by stands development lid., Wilh 23-Storcys, suites and commercial space on Hie lower floors. Sargent development lid. Will build a 15-Slorcy office Tower on the North e a s t Corner of Donald Street and York Street. It includes three parking Levels 11 floors of offices and a Penthouse suite. The spark set in the area of the convention Centre is spreading across the Rene Wal area and into Oiler parts of downtown. Recently by stands and properties revealed details for a million project on the old St. Paul s College site on Ellice Avenue and Kennedy Street. It will be known As Cen Tennial gardens and be made up of seven buildings and three acres of terraced Park. Two of the buildings will be towers one an s apr Mont hotel the other office and commercial space. The Complex will have parking for 875 Auto mobiles and will include a Lay care Centre Bowling Alley and Pool. By stands a n d Mark Borough said it will take months to Complete the continued on Page 15 convention Centre work rate delay worries coun. Liy ki.a1ne Brown construction on the convention Centre has fallen behind schedule neither the Rale structures for renting the Centre for a convention or for renting commercial space have yet been established and a general m a n a g c r has t been found. Councillor Don Perry a director on the Board of the convention Centre is concerned very much he is concerned Bluit a Lack of rate Structure will Ducler bookings. This is fundamental. You can have the nicest building in the world but if you Don t know what it costs to rent it then it won t be we be had Many Inqui Ries which is promising but not Loo Many Book lie said. In fact there is Only one convention booked for Hie Centre he Blouse builders association i n january jm7. I. The Kinsmen club was planning in use Hie maitre for i hair convention in August but decided logo elsewhere since it was not certain Hie build ing would be completed. Conn. Perry does Mil think the lad of a Rale Structure has caused the Centre to lose any potential bookings even i Hough Niosi i a e planned to to five years ahead of Lime. All information that is available is Cut out to any organization showing any interest. Those who Are quite serious in their desire to use the Centre arc being communicated with regularly on any new develop ments. It has t Hurt yet but if this is delayed any longer it lie said. Coun. Perry is also very concerned about the work stoppage on the Centre. The projected completion Date for the Centre to mid october of 197-1, and has now been pushed Back that late May be pushed Back even further if the current labor disputes arc not settled in the near future. T h c convention Centre was originally scheduled for completion by june 30, hi74 Mil this Dale was set Back three months last year. Work on Hie Sile is very limited now according to Lack Kyle civic works and operations commissioner. The picket lines Are being generally adhered to and work is virtually at a lie said in an incr View. I Otin. Perry said in is difficult in know How far Back ibo completion Dale May have o be pushed. No a r o being Dinatle for mi74 and Hope fully Well Able to keep our commitment for the hons builders coun. Perry is also Oon c e r n e d about the slow Progress being made on the development of the Sec Ond floor structural plans and the rental rates for the commercial space that will be on that level. I would like the rental Structure to be solved As soon As possible. I Hope the Centre would be viable from tic very Start but Many of the firms interested need a certain amount of Lead Many inquiries have been made concerning this commercial space but again no one is to commit themselves until it is decided Bow much the space will Cost. At ibis Point it is not critical but in could be serious if not do c i d c d on coun. Perry said. T Here Are also some problems in the approach to inc design of the com Mercial space. Except for Hie preliminary corridors hero has been nothing de signed. There Are some problems Here but the consortium is reviewing inc space available and Hie a p Roa c h that should be taken before a satisfactory layout can be the consortium consists of Michener Anil associates architects and Mckeag Harris ideally and continued on m in her Rew v i Vav we be got what it takes to take what you be got ;