Winnipeg and a rush to downtown growth

By Brent Bellamy, Associate + Creative Director 
Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press

Renowned urbanist Jane Jacobs once said, “You can’t rely on bringing people downtown, you have to put them there.”

Planners and politicians have long understood that prosperity and renewal for downtown Winnipeg depends on it becoming a vibrant urban neighbourhood, rather than relying on suburban commuters for its success. As we move into 2026, this may be remembered as the moment in which that vision found its momentum.

When complete, construction that is both underway and soon to begin will create almost 3,000 new homes for more than 5,000 people, dramatically increasing the downtown population by nearly 30 per cent.

This development will uniquely establish three diverse and new population nodes at opposite corners of downtown, creating distinct centres of gravity that will be catalysts for localized urban renewal.

The first flurry of activity has been happening along Portage Avenue at the western edge of downtown.

A soaring crane is the only street-level evidence of work happening at the iconic Hudson’s Bay building, but views from neighbouring towers reveal that a hole the size of a hockey rink has been cut through the centre of the building, the first move in its transformation into Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn. The project will create almost 400 new homes developed by Southern Chiefs’ Organization, who have also partnered with True North Real Estate Development to add a further 200 homes, many of them affordable, in a new 19-storey residential tower across the street, rising above a reborn Portage Place.

Complementing this new density, three towers developed by the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation (UWCRC 2.0) across the intersection from The Bay are creating one of the highest-density blocks in the city.

Each is unique in design but being clad in white, they read as a cohesive development that brings 435 homes to the area. The latest addition, Solara Flats, is an elegant 21-storey tower designed by Cibinel Architecture that will be the first residential high-rise in Canada to achieve net-zero carbon building certification, incorporating innovative exterior siding with integrated solar panels.

When complete, these major projects will combine to provide homes for well over 1,500 residents, as if the town of Carberry or St. Adolphe were built on one corner of downtown.

UWCRC 2.0 has become a powerhouse of downtown development, creating projects of high-quality design that provide socially conscious, deeply affordable, and environmentally sustainable housing. They have brought this formula to the second major new centre of gravity to be under construction in downtown. The first phase of Market Lands on the site of the former Public Safety Building, will be completed this spring.

The nine-storey residential building will achieve the same net-zero certification and affordability targets and be home to the Creative Hub on its bottom two floors. Organizations like Urban Shaman Gallery, MAWA, Creative Manitoba, and Manitoba Music will come together to establish a vibrant centre for the arts, reinforcing the value of the city’s creative industries and connecting to the artistic soul of the Exchange District.

The Creative Hub will open up to a major new public plaza that leverages the success of adjacent Old Market Square. A new public market building designed by LM Architectural Group will be an urban jewel that anchors the south-facing plaza, recalling the former building on the site that gave Market Avenue its name. The bar and food hall will create opportunity for local food and beverage entrepreneurs and solidify the area’s role as a vibrant arts and festival destination.

Market Lands North, the development’s second phase, designed by Number TEN Architectural Group (I am leading the design team) will be a six-storey building clad in yellow brick that visually connects to the surrounding historic warehouses. Modern Indigenous artwork will provide relief from the brick, appearing to grow across the façade, creating a unique visual tension and opportunity for Indigenous placemaking. Inspired by traditional European urban form, the building will create a new model for downtown living in Winnipeg by wrapping around an entire city block to enclose an internal courtyard that serves as an urban oasis for commercial and residential tenants and is a safe play space for a large daycare.

The building will rise to the north, becoming a 16-storey tower clad in weathering steel that will allow the building to grow into its site, as it ages and corrodes in response to localized patterns of wind and sun. The warm rusting steel will reflect the industrial history of the neighbourhood and create a striking but imperfect visual character that establishes a dialogue with the texture of the surrounding century-old buildings.

When complete, The Market Lands development will bring almost 400 new homes to the Exchange District, as well as community-focused commercial tenants, employment, and dynamic public spaces.

The third new residential node downtown will also feature an important contribution from UWCRC 2.0 who are developing a major building within Railside at The Forks. After years of starts and stops, permits are now in hand and the pedestrian-only neighbourhood planned for the parking lot across from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights will finally break ground as the snow melts. The first phase will organize 10 low-rise buildings around sun-drenched courtyards and narrow alleyways, evoking the feel of a medieval European town centre, creating nearly 400 new homes and transforming The Forks into a true residential neighbourhood.

Downtown Winnipeg has faced many challenges in recent years, but with these projects, and several others in the queue, 2026 looks to be a moment in time that will have lasting legacy on its future trajectory. It will be exciting to watch this transformation unfold.