Forks development stalled until purchase of city parking lot

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This article was published 18/02/2019 (1885 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Forks is ready to start negotiations on a city-owned gravel parking lot that will trigger significant development on the remaining 12 acres of undeveloped land on the site.

Paul Jordan, CEO of The Forks Renewal Corporation, appeared at city hall Tuesday to kick-start negotiations on the lot, known as Parcel 4.

“We have developers lined up and ready to go,” Jordan told Mayor Brian Bowman and members of his executive policy committee.

While council has on at least two occasions agreed to sell the lot, located at the southwest corner of William Stephenson Way and Waterfront Drive, The Forks hasn’t been ready to buy it — until now.

Jordan said owning and controlling the property is key to development of that site along with the paved parking lot abutting the CN Rail line, known as the Railside Lands.

Parcel 4 has been a controversial property for city hall. Overwhelming public opposition in 2012 killed a proposal from the administration of former Mayor Sam Katz for a hotel and water park. In 2014, council agreed to turn it over to The Forks and renewed that commitment in 2017. An audit into the controversial water park deal found the property had been appraised at $10 million in 2009.

Jordan said The Forks is prepared to pay fair market value for the property but the question of when and how the two parking lots will be developed can’t be determined until the land is formally owned by The Forks.

Jordan said no decision has been made on where development will start, adding that will be determined in negotiations with developers.

“There’s way more parking than we need so between (the two parcels), we need to be able to manage the public parking,” Jordan told the Free Press. “If we’re going to start on what we call Railside South, we need to move parkers into Parcel 4. We’re ready to start doing deals with developers but it’s all predicated on Parcel 4 transferring over to The Forks — otherwise we just can’t move.”

The Forks went through a three-year public consultation period ending in 2017 on development on the site, followed by a request for proposals that attracted submissions from about 100 developers from across the globe.

The Forks has narrowed down the list of the potential developers and Jordan told EPC it’s ready to make deals.

Jordan told EPC that development of the two parking lots will not involve the sale of any portion of both sites, explaining that all development will be done on a lease basis.

Jordan was tight-lipped about how development will occur, explaining to the committee that “the plan is very, very detailed and too much for this presentation.”

No building on the site will exceed six or seven storeys in height, Jordan told the Free Press. It is expected to be a mix of housing, shops and public spaces.

In plans released midway through 2017, Jordan described the development as European in scale occurring over a 20- to 25-year period, with about 30 buildings on the two parking lots, connected with a series of walkways, fountains and piazzas.

Jordan told EPC that The Forks remains committed to reducing Waterfront Drive from four to two lanes, with the creation of a linear promenade.

While the 2017 plans called for the construction of a parkade on Main Street, just south of York Avenue, Jordan said the location, the timing of its construction, and whether it will be constructed, is all still to be determined.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca