Winnipeg is in the midst of a real estate upheavel, the conference will likely hear, as the city begins the most significant downtown overhaul in history.
Dubbed the sports, hospitality and entertainment district (or SHED), this five-year plan to spend upward of $600 million is poised to revitalize an 11-block area that includes the MTS Centre, home of the Winnpeg Jets, the Convention Centre and the Metropolitan and Burton Cummings theatres.
Shortly after a pair of buildings on Portage Avenue across from the MTS Centre are demolished, construction will begin on a multi-use facility featuring five storeys of retail and office space, topped by a 14-storey hotel with 154 rooms.
At the forum, Lloyd Axworthy, president of the University of Winnipeg, will present a keynote address on "the remaking of Winnipeg's downtown."
Of course, the completion of Manitoba Hydro's new 700,000-square-foot downtown office tower has forever altered the city's skyline and its normally quiet office market.
Wayne Salto, vice-president of Cushman Wakefield will lead a forum office-sector panel that will include both developers and real estate professionals.
Other panels will cover the retail sector, real estate investment, land development, commercial banking and overall opportunities.
To register for the Winnipeg Real Estate Forum, which sold out its last show in 2010, see the forum web page at www.realestate forum.com.
from Western Investor April 2012
