Former Parkview Place redevelopment among 11 Winnipeg projects receiving housing funding

A former long-term care facility indowntown Winnipeg is among 11 recipients of a City of Winnipeg housing grant program worth $25 million.

The city announced the recipients of the program on Thursday. Using money from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, the projects will create 1,135 housing units, including 597 affordable units and 613 located downtown.

Last year, the federal government announced it would give the city $122 million to speed up development of 3,166 units of new housing by 2027, including at least 931 affordable units.

Three projects associated with the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation received a combined $8.35 million.

The projects include the redevelopment of the former Parkview Place long-term care facility at 440 Edmonton St. The 13-storey building has been vacant for two years, and will be converted into 180 units of transitional, social and affordable housing.

"I hope it's part of a revitalization for the Central Park community that has otherwise had this 13-storey tower sitting vacant for the last two years," said Jeremy Read, CEO of the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation 2.0.

The non-profit housing developer also plans to partner with newcomer and asylum seeker support organizations to provide tenancy support for some of the affordable and transitional units, Read said. A child-care facility will also expand into space inside the redeveloped building.

The corporation is also a stakeholder in a plan to redevelop the northern section of the Market Lands, across from Winnipeg City Hall and the former site of the Winnipeg police headquarters and civic parkade.

A sister project to another mixed-use development currently under construction on the southern portion of the property, the new building will have 128 mixed-income housing units, including 48 rent-geared-to-income units.

The non-profit has plans for a second project, a 14-storey tower with another 128 units, adjacent to the new building. Read says they applied for funding for both projects in this round of the Housing Accelerator Fund program, but only one was successful.

Read is hopeful the second tower will receive funding in future rounds.

A third project, led by the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation, willcreate a 15-unit transitional housing development for Indigenous and newcomer women, as well as non-binary, two-spirit and trans people escaping violence.

Read expects the funding received from the city to help secure more funding, worth a total of $130 million for all three projects combined.

Another recipient of the funding is a project providing shelter for Inuit women.

The Manitoba Inuit Association received $250,000 for its transitional housing project, which CEO Nastania Mullin says will build 15 units for Inuit women and children escaping domestic violence.

"I feel like it's such a beautiful thing to witness being able to create these things in an Inuit-centric manner," Mullin said.

The funding shows "the commitment of the city" and Mullin thanks "local Winnipeggers for opening up their arms to Inuit."

Mullin says they plan to start construction in the next couple months, and hope to complete it by March 2026.

Other projects getting funding:

• A 154-unit facility for families and people with disabilities experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless, at 145 Transcona Blvd.
• A transitional housing project in the North End with 23 units and wraparound supports for Indigenous youth.
• Apartments at 228 King St. and 261 Princess St. with 54 units.
• A conversion of a surface parking lot into a new 128-unit apartment building at 346 Pacific Ave.
• A Shoal Lake 40 First Nation development at 2675 Portage Ave. providing 150 units for all residents, including First Nationmembers living, working and studying in Winnipeg.
• A new 165-unit development at 530 St. Mary Ave. and 252 Good St., with 50 units of affordable housing and commercial space.
• A conversion of a largely vacant commercial building at 125 Garry St. into 126 units of housing.