New boutique hotel and social housing project coming to downtown site
LONDON: A new boutique hotel is to be interleafed with a social housing project on a mid-city regeneration site.
The Manitoba government is handing out tax breaks for a new boutique hotel and a social housing development in downtown Winnipeg.
Through the Manitoba Works Capital Incentive (MWCI), a $38.6 million Hyatt Centric-branded hotel will convert a vacant six-storey building at 325 Broadway into a 140-room hotel featuring a full-service restaurant and spa. The hotel is expected to be completed in three years.
The province says it’s providing $5.2 million in support for the hotel over the next 20 years through the MWCI program, which launched in May 2020 that rebates incremental education property taxes generated by a project for up to 20 years.
The only Hyatt Centric hotel is in Montreal and the province says the project will create 200 short-term construction jobs and 70 new hotel jobs in downtown Winnipeg.
Economic Development, Investment and Trade Minister Jeff Wharton also announced that the province would provide up to $2.73 million to develop a new 21-storey commercial and residential apartment at 308 Colony St. in Winnipeg.
The $70.5 million project is being developed by the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation 2.0 and will create 214 apartment units with two office or commercial spaces on the ground floor. The development is next to the Muse Flats and the Downtown Commons and is being designed for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Of the 214 new units, 86 will be set aside for affordable housing, which will include 38 studio and 48 one-bedroom apartments. A little over 20% of all suits will be barrier-free or barrier-free-adaptable, the province says. The complex will also feature an outdoor greenspace terrace, gym, lounge and laundry facilities. Efficiency Manitoba has given developers a grant of $577,000 for a heating system.
The City of Winnipeg is also providing support to both projects. Through the Heritage and Economic Development Incentive Program, the city will provide tax increment financing grant of up to $1.4 million over 10 years for the boutique hotel.
Through an affordable housing program, the city will provide up to $5 million for 308 Colony over 25 years and a $250,000 capital grant and a $21,600 housing rehabilitation investment reserve grant.
