Post by Ducky on Jan 18, 2005 7:21:00 GMT -5
if somehow the bombers stadium doesnèt work out red river ex park couldn't this location off waterfront drive and the Disraeli Freeway.
Nice to see developments going on though at waterfront.
Downtown delight
Katz praises Entegra for investment
By KATHLEEN MARTENS, BUSINESS REPORTER
It's not every day the mayor comes to a real estate press conference. But it's not every day someone spends $2 million putting up a new building on vacant, inner-city land. That's why Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz was all smiles yesterday as he praised Entegra Credit Union's plans for a new branch in the Waterfront Drive district.
'PRIVATE-SECTOR DRIVEN'
"I've always said development like this has to be private-sector driven," a tanned and relaxed-looking Katz said. "Government can try ... but nothing brings more belief (in the resurgence of the core) than investment from our private sector."
Construction of the 6,000 sq.-ft. banking centre on three parcels of land at Lily Street and the Disraeli Freeway will start this spring. This will be the smallest of Entegra's three branches in the city.
It will also be the greenest, said architect Dudley Thompson, who designed the environmentally friendly Mountain Equipment Co-op building on Portage Avenue.
"These guys are quite edgy for bankers," said the key figure at Prairie Architects Inc., behind Entegra's Jefferson Avenue branch and a long-term Entegra member.
Thompson said projects like this wouldn't be possible without support from the mayor and the city's CentreVenture Development Corp., which sells empty downtown civic land for redevelopment.
Without CentreVenture "to cut through red tape and aggressively market these sites -- this just wouldn't happen," he said.
The new branch will have a lobby and drive-through automated banking machine, and 25 parking stalls accessible off Disraeli. It will employ up to 17 people and be the northernmost anchor for the emerging Waterfront development, said Entegra CEO Gordon Kirkwood.
With several major condominium developments proposed for Waterfront Drive, CentreVenture general manager Diane Bampton said the credit union "is welcomed by those who call the area home and will move here."
It is also good news for the city, she said, which will now reap taxes from the undeveloped site.
Bampton said new investment downtown -- either committed, underway or completed -- is now valued at half a billion dollars.
Entegra is the 12th largest credit union in the province with 9,400 members and $150 million in assets. Kirkwood said it would transfer commercial banking to the new location from its 303 Selkirk Ave. branch in response to requests from members for a central location.
The price it paid for the land was described as "market value."
Nice to see developments going on though at waterfront.
Downtown delight
Katz praises Entegra for investment
By KATHLEEN MARTENS, BUSINESS REPORTER
It's not every day the mayor comes to a real estate press conference. But it's not every day someone spends $2 million putting up a new building on vacant, inner-city land. That's why Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz was all smiles yesterday as he praised Entegra Credit Union's plans for a new branch in the Waterfront Drive district.
'PRIVATE-SECTOR DRIVEN'
"I've always said development like this has to be private-sector driven," a tanned and relaxed-looking Katz said. "Government can try ... but nothing brings more belief (in the resurgence of the core) than investment from our private sector."
Construction of the 6,000 sq.-ft. banking centre on three parcels of land at Lily Street and the Disraeli Freeway will start this spring. This will be the smallest of Entegra's three branches in the city.
It will also be the greenest, said architect Dudley Thompson, who designed the environmentally friendly Mountain Equipment Co-op building on Portage Avenue.
"These guys are quite edgy for bankers," said the key figure at Prairie Architects Inc., behind Entegra's Jefferson Avenue branch and a long-term Entegra member.
Thompson said projects like this wouldn't be possible without support from the mayor and the city's CentreVenture Development Corp., which sells empty downtown civic land for redevelopment.
Without CentreVenture "to cut through red tape and aggressively market these sites -- this just wouldn't happen," he said.
The new branch will have a lobby and drive-through automated banking machine, and 25 parking stalls accessible off Disraeli. It will employ up to 17 people and be the northernmost anchor for the emerging Waterfront development, said Entegra CEO Gordon Kirkwood.
With several major condominium developments proposed for Waterfront Drive, CentreVenture general manager Diane Bampton said the credit union "is welcomed by those who call the area home and will move here."
It is also good news for the city, she said, which will now reap taxes from the undeveloped site.
Bampton said new investment downtown -- either committed, underway or completed -- is now valued at half a billion dollars.
Entegra is the 12th largest credit union in the province with 9,400 members and $150 million in assets. Kirkwood said it would transfer commercial banking to the new location from its 303 Selkirk Ave. branch in response to requests from members for a central location.
The price it paid for the land was described as "market value."