CBC Winnipeg
Proposed housing hinges on rapid transit
WINNIPEG - A $100-million housing development planned for Winnipeg could be in jeopardy now that the city has decided halt plans for rapid transit.
Ken Douma has big plans for the Fort Rouge rail yards. A few years ago, his company, Redview Developments, bought a strip of land between Pembina Highway, Osborne Street and Jubilee Avenue from CN Rail.
The land is adjacent to the future right-of-way for bus rapid transit in the Lord Roberts neighbourhood. With the help of the city and a consulting firm, Douma's company developed a plan to build housing around major rapid transit stops.
One of the concepts for the land includes more than 1,000 condos. Other ideas include apartment buildings, bike paths and even a lake.
"I think this would be great, because of this location, it's so close to downtown. They always talked about infill, affordable housing. Well, here it is, it's here," says Douma. "I think this is a great opportunity to have higher density [population], then people use transit to go to the Forks, hockey games, the U of M, so forth."
But the project may have hit a snag. Earlier this month, Mayor Sam Katz put the brakes on rapid transit. He wants to redirect money set aside for dedicated bus lanes and put it into recreation centres.
Douma is optimistic rapid transit is just delayed, not dead. He wants to work on his condos in the summer of 2005.
Fort Rouge Coun. Jenny Gerbasi would love to see the new housing in her ward, but she's worried it may not happen.
"The success of a $100-million project is tied to rapid transit going ahead. If it's delayed six months or a year, sure, he's still going to go ahead, but what if it's delayed for 10 or 20 years? I don't think he'd be going ahead," she says.
Gerbasi says the type of housing Douma wants to build is exactly what the city is looking for because it's near existing schools, parks and roads – unlike proposed developments such as Waverley West on the outskirts of the city, which would require the construction of new infrastructure.
Even if the city works out a new deal with the province or Ottawa, there is no guarantee the money will be used for rapid transit. Mayor Katz has said his priorities are improving the city's streets and roads, not transit service.