True North’s interest in purchasing Portage Place Mall met with mixed reactions

There’s a new chapter in the redevelopment saga of Portage Place Mall.

True North Real Estate Development has entered into a purchase agreement with plans to redevelop the property.

Jim Ludlow, the group’s president, says he can’t reveal much about their plan for Portage Place. He says it will reunite the communities on either side of the mall and contain some of the social and multi-family aspects of previous plans.

“You’ve got to touch a number of things in a development like this that are important,” said Ludlow. “It’s not just economic impact and economic return. It would as well be social impact and social return. And those are important to achieve success in something like Portage Place.

“You’ll see a major – to the extent we proceed – deconstruction of the mall. Not demolition, but adaptative reuse in its purpose.”

True North, which also owns the Winnipeg Jets, was behind other downtown developments including the Canada Life Centre and True North Square residential and office complex.

RELATED: Winnipeg organizations looking to transform Portage Place Mall (September 2022)

“As with many developments in downtown Winnipeg, it’s something else that has basically sucked life off the streets of downtown,” said Richard Milgrom, head of the city planning department at the University of Manitoba.

Milgrom says the City of Winnipeg is embarking on a plan to revitalize downtown, and bringing a failed space of this size back to life is a key step.

He believes the city should ensure True North’s redevelopment project supports their plan while not taking the lead in shaping it.

“Not all of the programming of the space can be entirely profit driven,” he said. “It’s not all about making money, it’s about public good.”

Call for Indigenous community centre

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives researched community needs for the mall in 2021. Their report found the for-profit motives of a mall do not fit the needs of the community, which would benefit from rent-geared-to-income housing units.

Molly McCracken, the centre’s director for Manitoba, says True North has a track record of gentrification.

“Indigenous reconciliation and Indigenous-led ownership was the vision by the community for that land,” said McCracken. “The community will question why True North should be the developer, and not more work going into an Indigenous-led development.

“The community has many needs. There is no community centre and the space has become a de facto gathering place which is what’s needed, but it’s not purposefully built for the needs of that area.”

Winnipeg’s Portage Place Mall on March 6, 2023. (Credit: CityNews/Mike Albanese)

‘I have faith’

Community204 creator Daniel Hidalgo says easier access to food, entertainment, and opportunity downtown would cut down on crime and bring people back to the downtown area.

He says based on True North’s work with the Downtown Community Safety Partnership, they could deliver.

“I’m optimistic when I hear that True North is taking this on. I have faith in Mark Chipman and his team, that they’re going to do exceptional things as they’ve done with DCSP,” said Hidalgo.

“Perhaps all of these things will fall in place in a way that’s just overall beneficial to our city.”

True North Real Estate Development has until the end of the year to complete due diligence and a redevelopment plan.