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The overhaul of the former Portage Place mall will see a new, long-awaited grocery store in downtown Winnipeg, according to True North Real Estate Development Limited, the developer behind the massive project.
At the future Red River Co-op location, downtown residents and workers will be able to grab fresh food, pharmaceuticals and other household essentials when it opens in 2029.
For many, this is a very big deal. Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham says a full-service grocery store downtown has been talked about for years as one of the missing pieces in the puzzle of downtown and will improve the livability of downtown.
Redevelopment work is already underway at the mall, with plans for a health-care centre and a 15-storey multi-family housing complex. Forty per cent of those units will be affordable, according to a 2024 news release from the City of Winnipeg.
The revived centre is also expected to incorporate greenspace and bring new shops downtown, the developer said.
A long-term lease between the developer and Red River Co-op was signed.
“This is the right time. This is the right development. It’s not only grocery — it’s pharmacy, it’s health care, it’s community services. It is the right investment at the right time,” Craig Glipin, CEO of Red River Co-op, told reporters.
