Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 22, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B4 Commercial Properties & Investments FOR LEASE ESFR Warehouse 60,000- 80,000 sf, 24' high warehouse with ample doors and yard space. Manufacturing/ Warehouse Space 28,000 sf, high ceiling, large yard, meets ASHRAE standards. Office Suite 3500 sf, neutral d�cor in east Winnipeg 10 minutes to downtown. For Details; Bill Hilash 204- 782- 5650 James DeFehr 204- 227- 2161 www. LexingtonRealEstate. ca . 56,000 s. f. available . 2.77 acres . 52 parking stalls . M2 Zoning . Both dock and grade loading 1205 Sherwin Road For more information contact: Jamie McPetrie 204.947.2242 x121 avisonyoung. com Partnership. Performance. INDUSTRIAL FOR LEASE - REDEVELOPMENT UNDER WAY . 5- ton crane included . Fully sprinklered . 22 ft ceiling heights . $ 7 psf Net . AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 1, 2013 For Sale or Lease 71 Don Valley Parkway in the Matheson Industrial Park, Gunn Road and Redonda ( Close to the East Perimiter) 16,500 Sq. Ft. Building on 1.09 Acres Divided into 1 - 10,500 Sq. Ft. area and 1 - 6,000 Sq. Ft. area Commercial Real Estate Investment Division Ph. 204- 793- 7950 email " warda@ mts. net" Ed Yuzak 204- 475- 9130 FOR LEASE Downtown Location 3,200 sq. ft. Office Building Excellent exposure. Located at a mojor traffic flow artery. Parking available for 20 vehicles. Suitable for medical, legal, insurance offices and numerous other type businesses INCLUDING RETAIL. Air conditioned. NORTHSIDE MOTEL Owner must sell 17 unit business includes 4 housekeeping & 13 open room units in very good condition. The residence has 2 bedrooms, full bath, kitchen & living room. Good exposure with 590 ft. on Hwy frontage & room to grow. Owner will finance. Asking $ 485,000.00 John Ladouceur - Broker of Record LATITUDE 50 REALTY INC. Box 758, 165 First St. Dryden, ON P8N 2Z4 Ph 1- 866- 880- 4950 Fax 1- 807- 223- 5950 Email - latitude50@ drytel. net www. latitude50. on. ca Restaurant For Sale Over 2000 sq. ft. bldg. on about 1 acre. Incredible, picturist location on Hwy. 9, along Netley Creek in Petersfield. Includes bldg., land and equipment. Priced under assessed value. Incredible potential. $ 135,900 Daryl Carry ( Kisil & Assoc.) 1- 204- 641- 4020 or 204- 668- 7878 BUSINESS EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204- 697- 7308 business@ freepress. mb. ca I winnipegfreepress. com MONDAY, JULY 22, 2013 B 4 W INNIPEG'S population is nearing 800,000 and is growing by more than 10,000 per year. Property values are rising, construction is happening and the economy is prospering. We have an IKEA, a professional hockey team and a half- dozen new towers rising in our skyline. Winnipeg is without question a progressing city - but is it a progressive one? After decades of stagnation, Winnipeg is beginning to face the challenges that come with more rapid urban growth. The suburbs are sprawling in every direction, traffic levels are increasing and established neighbourhoods are being redeveloped. The city is evolving and we are at the point of having to ask ourselves: What kind of community do we want Winnipeg to become? Old Winnipeg was a special place, filled with dense, tree- lined, walkable neighbourhoods of grid- pattern streets, community clubs and corner stores. Will new Winnipeg have the same character and soul, or will we look back on this growth period as a lost opportunity to progressively shape our future city? Will we have the same pride and foresight as those who planted our characteristic tree canopy a century ago, or will we leave a legacy of ubiquitous suburbs, unmanageable civic finances and crumbling infrastructure? In 2011, city council voted to accept the Our Winnipeg plan and the Complete Communities Direction Strategy into official civic policy as a response to these very questions. These comprehensive planning guidelines are intended to provide a progressive blueprint for the city's economic, social and physical growth over the next 25 years. Our Winnipeg emphasizes creative ways to guide new neighbourhood design and transform existing areas into " complete communities." It focuses on developing mixed- use, mixed- income and mixed- density neighbourhoods that are walkable, safe, beautiful and vibrant. Perhaps, most importantly, it outlines ways to make the city more economically sustainable by curbing the prevailing model of low- density, expansive growth that has already stressed civic budgets to a point where taxes are rising and public services are declining. Our Winnipeg is a long- term plan, but it is not a law. Without aligning its strategies with current zoning bylaws, the document becomes a fanciful vision without any real method of implementation. Earlier this month, city council chose to defer their vote on a series of recommendations from the planning, property and development department that would align several features of Our Winnipeg with zoning bylaws. The recommendations focused on reducing red tape and streamlining the approval process for desirable development. Densification of existing neighbourhoods is seen as a key strategy for making the city more economically sustainable in the long term, but the provision of parking to meet current bylaw standards can be a barrier to infill development on smaller urban sites. The recommendations addressed this issue by reducing minimum parking levels in mature communities, permitting some on- street parking for multi- family developments and allowing car- share and bike programs to offset parking requirements. To promote the subdivision of larger properties, it was recommended that the minimum required lot areas be reduced while allowing properties to be subdivided as long as newly created lots are no smaller than existing ones located within 60 metres on the same street. These modest changes met with apprehension from council, which cited fears of increased street parking and smaller residential properties that might be considered unappealing to community residents. It is human nature to fear change, but councillors who struggle every year to balance civic budgets likely understand our current urban- development model is not economically sustainable. As Winnipeg grows, promoting density is the only way to ensure a healthy and competitive city in the future. To prosper, we will have to embrace the long- term goals outlined in the Our Winnipeg plan by empowering it with a legal backbone. This resistance to long- term planning as a method of guiding change seems to have recently become a trend in Winnipeg. Last year, the Corydon- Osborne Neighbourhood Plan was stopped in its tracks despite the pressing need to address significant changes happening in the area. Promises to restart the process have gone unfulfilled for almost a year. Recently, the City of Winnipeg cancelled its active- transportation study, indicating its $ 400,000 cost would be better spent on construction. The complex web of bike and pedestrian paths, intertwined with transit and vehicular networks across the city, will now be implemented without a strategic plan to ensure its efficiency and costeffectiveness. The argument appears to fall flat considering other studies continue, including a $ 1.2- million plan for the development of the Waverley Street underpass. The lessons of proceeding without planning and public consultation might have been learned when a hotel and water park near The Forks were abruptly proposed, resulting in significant community opposition and the eventual failure of the project. The value of an effective urban plan can be seen as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers implement costly reactive solutions to traffic issues at their new stadium. Winnipeg is at a critical moment in its history. Just as development from the pre- war boom era a century ago continues to inform our city's urban character today, the decisions we make in this growth period will define what kind of city we pass on to future generations. To be a truly progressive city, we must establish long- term goals through comprehensive planning and without fear of change, implement public policy that adheres to plans such as Our Winnipeg and promotes development that effectively realizes the goals they strive to achieve. Brent Bellamy is senior design architect for Number Ten Architectural Group. bbellamy@ numberten. com Long- term planning crucial Strategic thinking needed with Winnipeg seeing growth ON ARCHITECTURE BRENT BELLAMY Innovative projects such as 5468796 Architecture's Oz Condominium bring vibrancy and density to neighbourhoods such as Osborne Village, but difficulty meeting minimum parking requirements on small urban sites results in developers enduring a costly and time- consuming approval process. B_ 04_ Jul- 22- 13_ FP_ 01. indd B4 7/ 21/ 13 5: 22: 36 PM ;