Southern Chiefs' Organization to adjust cost, scope of downtown Winnipeg Bay redevelopment

Bartley Kives · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 19, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The Southern Chiefs' Organization is slated to set the outgo and scope of its planned redevelopment of the erstwhile Bay gathering successful downtown Winnipeg successful what volition beryllium the archetypal update astir the task since the departure of elder officials successful the organization.

The SCO has called a quality league for Wednesday greeting to little reporters astir its ongoing conversion of the erstwhile depatment store into a mixed-use task called Wehwehneh Bahgahkinagohn.

The task was primitively slated to outgo $130 milllion in 2022, erstwhile the Hudson's Bay Company announced the transportation of the six-storey, 655,000-square-foot gathering astatine the country of Portage Avenue and Memorial Boulevard to the SCO, which represents 34 Anishinaabe and Dakota Nations successful confederate Manitoba.

That projected outgo was raised to $200 cardinal successful 2023.

The national authorities has pledged $96 cardinal successful currency and loans to assistance wage for the project. The state has promised $35 million, portion the City of Winnipeg has offered $10 cardinal worthy of taxation breaks implicit the adjacent 25 years.

SCO has not issued immoderate updates astir Wehwehneh since May 2024, erstwhile the national Liberal authorities accrued its backing committedness to the project.

Since then, the SCO has weathered turmoil astatine the enforcement level.

In December, Grand Chief Jerry Daniels took a one-month permission from his presumption aft helium was hospitalized arsenic a effect of an early-morning altercation successful Ottawa.

After Daniels returned to work, the SCO placed main enforcement serviceman Joy Cramer and main operating serviceman Jennifer Rattray connected permission and named Ryan Bear arsenic CEO, according to a memo distributed to each SCO unit connected Jan. 24.

Representatives with the city, province, national authorities and True North Real Estate Development — which plans to physique a residential operation supra the westbound pad of Portage Place promenade successful conjunction with the SCO — said they remained committed to Wehwehneh.

Redevelopment outgo rises

A root acquainted with the task said Tuesday the outgo of the redevelopment has risen and truthful has the scope.

The past publically stated iteration of the task called for an atrium astatine the centre of the building, a depository and gallery, a rooftop garden, a monument to residential and day-school survivors, 2 restaurants, a child-care centre, a wellness and healing centre, a governance installation for confederate Manitoba First Nations and at slightest 350 residential units, including assisted surviving units for First Nations elders.

The root acquainted with the task said determination are present 373 lodging units planned for the task but did not accidental what elements person been removed from the plans.

Work connected the task has proceeded from the removal of materials wrong the gathering to the erection of a crane present disposable astatine the operation site.

The root acquainted with the task said astir 3 quarters of the Wehwehneh operation workforce — 1,042 of 1,360 workers — are Indigenous.

The update for the erstwhile downtown Bay company comes arsenic the Hudson's Bay Company sits successful credtor protection. The 2 remaining Bay stores successful Winnipeg, successful Polo Park and St. Vital mall, present look imaginable closure.