Turning an office into a home: The city's new idea to get people living downtown
The City of Winnipeg could be eyeing a new way to get more people living downtown – by filling the spaces left vacant by office workers working at home.
Two Kelly's Cafe in the city’s downtown relies on nine-to-five office workers. Owner Kelly Oxelgren says the last two-and-a-half years have been up and down.
"Office workers come back, then they go back home for working from home, come back – it's like a yo-yo," she said.
With many now working from home permanently, or part of the week, Oxelgren says she's had to shift her business model.
"I'm now relying on people looking for me, finding me who want to support small businesses."
The flex-work week, which is here to stay for many companies and governments, has left empty offices in downtown.
The city's property and development committee chair wants to change that.
"I have a lot of downtown residents and, you know what, I'd like to be welcoming more," Said Coun. Sherri Rollins.
She has put forward a motion asking the city's administration to explore how Winnipeg could encourage and make it easier for developers and not-for-profits to convert some of those empty office spaces to residential units.
Rollins says the city could be proactive by rezoning commercial corridors in advance to attract mixed-use development through conversions or new builds.
"What we have now is some commercial buildings that are underutilized and what we could have in the future is more residential so it's supporting that commercial, supporting that office space," Rollins said.
Other cities are looking at this, too. Calgary is offering millions of dollars worth of grants for conversions.
The Downtown BIZ says the office vacancy rate in downtown Winnipeg is around 16 per cent and Winnipeg can't rely on office workers alone to make that come back.
"Our downtown is different post-pandemic so we need to do things different, it really is about how we make that shift from a central business district to a social gathering district," said Kate Fenske, CEO of the Downtown BIZ.
Oxelgren says more people living near her cafe would help, but adds they need a reason to move here. She wants to see more grocery stores and amenities including more local food and coffee shops.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Storage shed or shipping container? B.C. Supreme Court settles long-running bylaw dispute
A long-running dispute over whether a structure on a Surrey property violates a city bylaw that prohibits shipping containers on residential lots has been settled by the B.C. Supreme Court