You know a neighbourhood is in good shape when buildings that have a quarter-century of dust in them are finding new owners.
A “for sale” sign has gone up at 104 and 108 Princess Street in the Exchange District, the historic part of downtown Winnipeg that’s home to the biggest cluster of heritage buildings in town.
The former is a 15,000-square-foot, six-storey heritage building that was built in 1885 for Manufacturers Life Insurance, the precursor to Manulife Financial. The latter is a 9,000-square-foot, three-storey building that was erected in the 1950s to replace the “twin” to 104 that had been destroyed by fire. Both are “brick and-beam” loft warehouses.
Included in the deal – the sale price isn’t being released but it’s reportedly close to the list price of $1.9 million – is a 44-spot surface parking lot behind the two buildings on Adelaide Street.
Lindsay Ward, senior associate at Avison Young, said the previous owners – who had experience in the area as the owner/developer of the Fairchild Lofts condominium down the street – were looking into a redevelopment plan for both buildings but ultimately decided to pass it on to “the next generation” of developers.
The new owners plan to put some commercial tenants on the main floors while redeveloping the upper floors into multi-unit residential space.
“There’s been no decision on whether they’ll be condos or apartments,” Ward said, noting the buildings are ideally located for student housing just a few hundred metres from Red River College.
