‘Huge step for us': Opaskwayak opens downtown apartment building

Winnipeg Free Press

2 days ago

At first, Lisa-Marie Lathlin's apartment hunt did not go well.
The Opaskwayak Cree Nation member sought a place off-reserve in Winnipeg. She's enrolled to attend Yellowquill University College this fall.
'I couldn't find anything affordable,' Lathlin said Friday.
BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS
Paragon Living President & CEO Nigel Furgus helps Opaskwayak Cree Nation Chief Maureen Brown cut the ribbon at the new apartments at 380 Young St.
Then Lathlin heard about a complex OCN was building downtown.
By Friday, she'd settled in to her suite at 380 Young St. The Winnipeg apartment is the first of three that OCN plans to build and own by 2028.
A handful more — led by various First Nations — are in the pipeline. They are rising up as governments pump funding into affordable housing projects.
'This is a huge step for us,' said Ginger Martin, chief executive of Paskwayak Business Development Corp.
She and fellow Opaskwayak members were on hand for 380 Young's grand opening Friday. All 69 units have been rented, the crowd was told.
First Nation members — mainly OCN, but some from places such as St. Theresa Point — account for more than 40 per cent of the tenants. OCN members took first priority.
There's a mix of students, seniors and young professionals. Rent starts around $680 per month — roughly 69 per cent of the median market rent for the Centennial neighbourhood, said Nigel Furgus, president of Paragon Living.
The developer ensured at least 40 per cent of the units met the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. criteria for affordable housing. That way, the seven-storey tower would be eligible for the CMHC affordable housing fund.
There was a mad rush for the lesser-priced units: more than 200 applications were submitted in two weeks, Furgus recalled.
'The higher-priced units are struggling a bit more,' he said, speaking about the rental industry broadly.
The most expensive units at 380 Young — at least $1,600 for two bedrooms — have been taken. (Average overall rent in Winnipeg was $1,663 in May, per Rentals.ca and Urbanation data.)
Construction on 380 Young began at least two years ago. It opened to tenants this May — nearly a year later than expected — because of two fires, Furgus said. At least one was arson; one started after the final floor had been erected and the place was drywalled.
'We kind of had to strip it, gut it and redo it,' Furgus said, adding insurance covered the cost.
Ottawa contributed $15.6 million to the apartment through a national housing fund involving low-interest and forgivable loans. OCN fronted $1.8 million.
It's among the first projects funded by the $14.6-billion CMHC Affordable Housing Fund that's solely First Nations-owned.
'We need to create our own source revenues,' Martin said. 'It's going to build our assets, our generational wealth.'
OCN aims to open a 129-unit apartment block in St. Boniface, on Marion Street, in September 2026.
A third complex in Bridgwater, with 240 units, could come in 2028. CMHC funding would be used in both projects, Martin said.
'We've always been visionaries,' said Chief Maureen Brown.
The community near The Pas has more than 7,000 members, including some 3,300 who live off reserve.
OCN's upcoming apartments are largely in the permit stage, Furgus said. Paragon Living has been tapped to create both.
Furgus hinted at three other multi-family buildings in the works with First Nations. One, with Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation, is being built on Chancellor Drive. Another — with 450 suites — is set for Edmonton. A third in Winnipeg should be announced within the next year, Furgus said.
Now is a good time to aim for government support on housing projects, said Jino Distasio, a University of Winnipeg urban geography professor.
The City of Winnipeg has received two of four $30.6-million installments through Ottawa's housing accelerator fund. The agreement targets 1,354 affordable housing units, at minimum, between December 2023 and December 2026.
A remaining 1,070 are targeted between 2025 and 2026, city spokesman Adam Campbell wrote in a statement.
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'What we're seeing across Canada and certainly within Winnipeg (is) a tremendous advancement of First Nations-led development,' Distasio said.
It extends beyond housing: Distasio pointed to transformations at the former Kapyong Barracks on Kenaston Boulevard, the former downtown Hudson's Bay store and the historic Bank of Montreal at Portage and Main.
Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn alone, the Southern Chiefs' Organization's redevelopment of the Bay, could add more than 300 housing units, a child care centre and commercial space.
'(Indigenous nations are) really adding a unique and important dynamic to the urban development of Winnipeg,' Distasio said. 'We're going to begin to see a dramatically different downtown and Portage in the next couple years.'
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Gabrielle PichéReporter
Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.
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