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![\"MIKAELA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4379833_web1_250505-Pembina-housing-0004.jpg\")
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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
A former police station property owned by the city, which has been earmarked for housing, including affordable units, after being mostly vacant for more than a decade.<\/p>\n
The seven-storey building would include many floor-to-ceiling windows facing Pembina Highway, balconies, ground-floor commercial space, 107 parking stalls and a dedicated bike-parking entrance.<\/p>\n
Plans call for up to 40 per cent of the housing units to have affordable rents, which would be set at less than 80 per cent of the area\u2019s median market rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an area that really needed to be upgraded and enhanced to contribute better to the beautiful neighbourhood that essentially lines Pembina,\u201d said Rollins.<\/p>\n
In a report, city staff recommend the approval of the proposal, noting large windows, an \u201cactive\u201d ground floor commercial area and second-storey balconies should make the site appealing.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, this project really kind of checks all the boxes. It transforms underutilized city land into approximately \u2026 150 homes,\u201d said Richard Mah\u00e9, the city\u2019s land enhancement administrator.<\/p>\n
To support the project, Mah\u00e9 said the city plans to create a new back lane that creates a safer access point to the school that abuts the property, which should be completed before students return in the fall.<\/p>\n
The city will add sewage capacity in the area, which will support this proposed building as well as additional large-scale housing projects near the site, said Mah\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to unlock about two kilometres of Pembina Highway for denser development that otherwise would not be able to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The developer, Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n
Mah\u00e9 said the partnership with that community is another benefit of the project.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat really advances reconciliation while addressing Winnipeg\u2019s housing needs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Freedhome Developments, which applied for variances to support the project, declined an interview request, suggesting it planned to share a written statement later.<\/p>\n
The city centre community committee will consider a variance for the project on Tuesday, which calls for smaller yard and parking stalls than are typically allowed by city rules.<\/p>\n
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
X: @joyanne_pursaga<\/p>\n
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Joyanne Pursaga Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter
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