
A central plaza with an emphasis on pedestrian-friendly pathways is shown in this artist’s rendering of the Railside development at The Forks. (HANDOUT)
WINNIPEG — The Forks has issued a call for business owners, entrepreneurs, and companies to occupy the ground floor of its future Railside development, previously known as the piece of Parcel 4 land.
While the land itself still remains a parking lot, wheels are in motion behind the scenes.
“What makes this really interesting is that we are going to potentially pair up developments with main floor tenants,” said Paul Jordan, CEO, The Forks North Portage.
“Normally that would be the developer’s job. But, since that main floor activation and access is so important to us and to visitors at The Forks, we are effectively going to help curate that space.”
Jordan says The Forks is essentially creating a database of would-be tenants for the mixed-use neighbourhood. A focus is being put on locally-owned and independent businesses, including but not limited to, retail, food and beverage, community uses, recreation and fitness, offices and neighbourhood conveniences.
“We want to complement the offering that is already at The Forks. Although we’ve set September 29, 2017 as the deadline for a first intake, our plan is to keep this EOI open and continue to build an inventory of interested parties,” added Jordan. “Then, when opportunities arise, we can pair developers with tenants.”