‘Waiting for the all-clear’

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This article was published 27/05/2022 (942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The redevelopment of the Kapyong Barracks may not be the largest mixed-use development undertaken in the city, but it is one of the most anticipated.

A year after the master plan for the 160-acre development — the project has been named Naawi-Oodena, which means “centre of the heart and community” in the Anishinaabe language — was released, ground remediation is still being completed on what was formerly Department of National Defence property.

Because of that neither Treaty One Development Corp. (T1DC) or Canada Lands Corp. (CLC) — the co-land developers of the project — have been able to even walk the site. (T1DC is responsible for about 100 acres and CLC for 60 acres.)

“It’s still a hot site,” said Whelan Sutherland, CEO of T1DC. “We’re still waiting for the all-clear.”

While no one is happy with the site development delays, the fact is the bureaucratic undertaking necessary for Treaty One Nation to administer the land is also still ongoing.

But Sutherland said, “There has been no surprise about what we are about to build and what is going to pop up on that site.”

When it is completely developed — which could take between 10 and 15 years — the site could accommodate between 2,300 and 3,000 residences (including multi-family buildings) and up to 1.2 million square feet of commercial space.

According to the detailed 100-page master plan (available online at wfp.to/kapyongplan) the site is split up into five separate blocks. The two developers will share the development of three of them with T1DC, which was only created in 2018 just prior to the signing of the Comprehensive Settlement Agreement with Canada in 2019, responsible solely for two others.

Sutherland and Chris Elkey, vice-president in charge of Western Canada for CLC, said the two groups continue to work closely together.

“We meet regularly,” Elkey said, “Our meetings are always productive and positive. We don’t expect that to change as we both continue to advance our individual interests… also our collective interests in creating a great community.”

Jolene Mercer, T1DC’s director of governance, said they are finalizing a municipal development services agreement (MDSA) that includes sewer and water as well as fire and emergency services for land that will be the largest urban reserve in the province and effectively outside the jurisdiction of the city.

And as such, after that agreement is in place, it will be Treaty One that will be issuing building permits, occupancy permits and setting by-laws.

An official from the City of Winnipeg said, “The city and Treaty One Development Corporation have been working together on the framework for an agreement for more than a year and the details of the agreement are in the final stages of preparation for review by both parties. We anticipate being able to share those details in the near future.”

T1DC is also awaiting land survey documents that had been the purview of Department of National Defence. Those documents are now the last remaining piece required before referendums can be held at four of the seven First Nations who are part of the Treaty One Nation, which owns the land.

Referendums are required by the First Nations Land Management Act to allow the addition to reserve land — the urban reserve — to be governed and administered jointly on behalf of the seven First Nations of Treaty One by T1DC. (Three of the reserves had completed the land code referendum previously related to other projects.)

Elkey said, “That addition to reserve process is very complex and takes time.”

Tim Daniels, T1DC’s chief development officer, said, “Assuming everything goes well this summer, the referendum with our citizens to vote on this unified land code, the signing of the MDSA, then the government of Canada has to designate it as a reserve… there are still lots of steps but we are getting closer to the end.”

When that occurs T1DC will be able to quickly begin development on the so-called Block A, an 8.8-acre parcel of land on the northeast corner of Kenaston Boulevard and Taylor Avenue.

A business plan for that site is in place for the construction of five buildings: a five-storey 70,000-square-foot office building; a 40,000-square-foot, four-storey mixed used retail, professional services building; a 144-unit apartment building; a gas station and an auto services building.

T1DC may proceed as the actual developers of the site. Sutherland said all sorts of partnerships and development agreements are being contemplated. He said that while the intention is to maximize financial benefits that will flow back to the seven member communities of Treaty One Nation, non-Indigenous developers and tenants will obviously be welcomed.

Sutherland said they are working on the infrastructure planning and raising capital to be able to begin construction work on Block A when the regulatory pieces are in place.

Elkey said for his part, CLC is expected to have its secondary plan available for city hall’s approval later this year and will be able to start doing its infrastructure work and building roads later next year. He said discussions have started with interested developers.

And even though rising interest rates and inflationary pressures are bringing the cost of construction up substantially, industry experts seem to all agree, developers at Naawi-Oodena don’t have anything to worry about when it comes to demand.

“That site is centre-ice from a Winnipeg perspective,” said Trevor Clay, head of Capital Commercial Real Estate Services. “It’s in close proximity to downtown, lots of retail, lots of quality residential, great schools. It’s got lots of things going for it. Clearly there will be lots of interest in that site.”

The fact it is taking some time for anything to materialize is not surprising to the development community.

Martin McGarry, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield Stevenson, said the land developers have a lot of hoops to jump through, and it is a very large development, but he believes any perceived delays are all about the additional bureaucratic procedures owing to its status as an urban reserve.

“As a development community we are dying to see the thing come to fruition,” he said. “It is such a massively important project for a number of reasons.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

Kapyong Barracks Master Plan