Plan to redevelop University of Manitoba-owned golf course into urban community gets green light
Plan to redevelop University of Manitoba-owned golf course into urban community gets green light
A plan to transform a former golf course owned by the University of Manitoba into a complete urban community has cleared its first hurdles.
The university’s board of governors approved a development plan for Southwood Circle on Jan. 31.
The proposal would see the former Southwood Golf and Country Club, which was bought by the university in 2008, transformed into a multi-family urban environment with 11,000 residential units, retail spaces, services and 21 acres of parklands.
“It's a very exciting project,” said Rejeanne Dupuis, U of M’s director of campus planning. “It will be sustainable. It will support the university community. It will bring revenue to the university, and really be a model of Indigenous planning and design, something we can be very proud of.”
(Source: UM Properties)
The 112-acre site, which sits adjacent to U of M, is being developed in three phases by UM Properties - a separate development entity established by the university to focus on the Southwood project.
According to the plan, third-party developers will put up about 90 per cent of the money needed to create the $5 billion community.
“The first phase is about 12 acres of land on which will go about 2,000 residential units and up to 100,000 square feet of retail and services. So that would be a marketplace, bars, restaurants, stuff like that," said Greg Rogers, CEO of UM Properties, noting it will also include a new building to house the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
(Source: UM Properties)
Indigenous design principles are also a key focus in the landscape plans, with a push to preserve and highlight century-old vegetation.
“The park, for example, will be a network that facilitates the continued movement of wildlife through the community, and that includes in this network, meeting places, social places, things that are traditional in Indigenous culture that will create intersections between people who live here, their various interests and create a stronger bond between people, the community and Mother Earth,” Rogers explained.
Another major focus of the plan is to prioritize ‘humans over cars,’ making major amenities walkable within five minutes.
University of Manitoba Students’ Union president Jaron Rykiss believes this is the direction campus should be moving towards.
‘There’s definitely a commuter campus ideology that we would love to see converted into a school where there’s a community that’s vibrant on campus. Whether that comes from the Southwood development, or just comes naturally over the next 40 or so years, we’re just excited to see a step in the right direction on this,” Rykiss said.
The design has already received city approval. Developers intend to start marketing initial lots in March, with building construction beginning next year.
However, the full development could take decades to fully establish.
“If we get this first phase right with high density, significant amenities, great buildings, great landscape and park infrastructure, then I would anticipate the balance of the community going far faster,” Rogers said.
A grand jury in Manhattan has voted to indict Donald Trump -- the first time in American history that a current or former president has faced criminal charges, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Ottawa Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the residence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security adviser, the second such incident involving one of his top aides in recent months.
This Sunday, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will announce the four astronauts that will be blasting off to fly around the moon for the Artemis II mission, one of whom will be a Canadian astronaut.
When two skiers collided on a beginner run at an upscale Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could foresee that seven years later, the crash would become the subject of a closely watched celebrity trial.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
A candidate for the United Conservative Party in southern Alberta has resigned after she posted a video claiming children are being exposed to pornography in schools.
A scientist at CAMH says video games have similar addictive features to gambling which cause social isolation of the individual and dependency on the activity.
A Mass Casualty Commission report that came out on Thursday following a mass shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020 may have a local impact on the RCMP Depot model being phased out.
As of March 25, 95 deaths in Saskatchewan have been linked to COVID-19 since the start of the year. No influenza-related deaths were reported over the same period.
Students at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) are highlighting stories of Ukrainian youth killed in the Russian invasion who were in school working towards a diploma or degree.
As of March 25, 95 deaths in Saskatchewan have been linked to COVID-19 since the start of the year. No influenza-related deaths were reported over the same period.
There are exciting plans for Knox Presbyterian Church in downtown Sudbury. Built in 1927, the former church was sold after its congregation dwindled and will be transformed into a concert hall.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has yet to answer direct questions about a growing scandal of her alleged interference with the justice system, but her deputy premier has responded the media about the issue.
The Alberta government has revealed plans for some of the $211 million it will spend over the next three years expanding and improving parks, campgrounds and recreation trails.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
Premier Doug Ford is slamming federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault as a “real piece of work” in the wake of public remarks he made suggesting that Ontario has “no plan to fight climate change.”
A candidate for the United Conservative Party in southern Alberta has resigned after she posted a video claiming children are being exposed to pornography in schools.
Three Calgary men face multiple charges after a police investigation that targeted drug traffickers resulted in the seizure of more than $250,000 in drugs, firearms and various rounds of ammunition, other weapons and drug paraphernalia.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has yet to answer direct questions about a growing scandal of her alleged interference with the justice system, but her deputy premier has responded the media about the issue.
Just a week after Airbnb tightened regulations for Quebec listings following a deadly fire, hosts may already be bending the rules. Airbnb now requires its hosts to provide a six-digit policy number with their listing, obtained when a tourist lodging is registered with the provincial government. But a scroll through the Airbnb website suggests users are falsifying their permit numbers to sneak past the authentication process.
A grand jury in Manhattan has voted to indict Donald Trump -- the first time in American history that a current or former president has faced criminal charges, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
A proposed class-action lawsuit over infamous brainwashing experiments at a Montreal psychiatric hospital was before Quebec's highest court Thursday, as victims attempted to remove immunity granted to the United States government.
Ottawa Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the residence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security adviser, the second such incident involving one of his top aides in recent months.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a brief initial response to the final report from the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) into Canada's worst mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020. Vowing changes will come, here's what Trudeau said in Truro, N.S.
Gun policy comments made by then-RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki in a contentious call to Nova Scotia RCMP officers after the mass shooting in 2020 did not amount to political interference, the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) final report concludes.
Indicators of the spread of COVID-19 in B.C. continued their upward trend this week, with the number of people hospitalized with the disease hitting its highest level since Jan. 12.
A 32-year-old man from Campbell River, B.C., has been sentenced to four years in prison for the beating death of a 59-year-old homeless man in October 2020.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) says designated landing zones should be available for aircraft in harbours following a crash between a floatplane and a water taxi in Tofino in 2021.
(Source: UM Properties)
(Source: UM Properties)
(Source: UM Properties)
