True North Square is a public

plaza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

and mixed-use development in downtown Winnipeg,

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

. Managed by True North Real Estate Development, a joint venture between James Richardson & Sons and

True North Sports & Entertainment True North Sports and Entertainment Limited (TNSE or TNS&E) is a Canadian company based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that owns and operates Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League. The company also ow ...

, it is still under construction, with two buildings officially complete and open. True North Square is situated between

Canada Life Centre Canada Life Centre (formerly MTS Centre and Bell MTS Place) is an indoor arena in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. The arena is the home of the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. T ...

and RBC Convention Centre, in the city's unofficial sports and entertainment district. The True North Square is set to feature four towers in total, spanning over 1 million square feet (23 acres) of office, residential, retail, hotel, and public space. The first tower, located at 242 Hargrave Street, opened in June 2018 as a 17-storey Class A office and retail building, becoming the first privately-developed office building in Winnipeg since 1990. It was joined in July 2019 by the second tower, located at 225 Carlton Street, which is a 25-storey residential rental building with complementary office and retail spaces.

Development

Plans for a new square were revealed in June 2015 when

(TNSE) confirmed its purchase of the former Carlton Inn site from CentureVenture Development Corporation. At the same time, TNSE negotiated an agreement to acquire the land at 225 Carlton Street from

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation The Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation (MBLL; french: Société manitobaine des alcools et des loteries) is a crown agency of the Manitoba government responsible for providing legalized gambling ("gaming"), distributing and selling liquor ...

. The full details for the $400-million CAD project were unveiled in February 2016. The City of Winnipeg directed $17.6 million towards the project, which included funding for the plaza as well as integrating True North Square into Winnipeg's existing skywalk network. The provincial government also committed $9 million in funding towards the project. In 2018,

Winnipeg City Council The Winnipeg City Council (french: Conseil municipal de Winnipeg) is the governing body of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Council is seated in the Council Building of Winnipeg City Hall.property taxes on 220 and 225 Carlton Street (Sutton Place Hotel and Residence) towards

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...

initiatives in Winnipeg, amounting to between $185,000 and $200,000.

Features

True North Square is situated between Bell MTS Place and RBC Convention Centre, in the city's unofficial sports and entertainment district.

Public plaza

True North Square plaza is a privately-owned publicly-accessible space. It encompass two acres south of Graham Avenue, between Hargrave and Carlton Streets. The public park and plaza features an outdoor stage and a skating rink during the winter months. The plaza opened in September 2018. A statue of former

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

captain and Hockey Hall of Fame-inductee

Dale Hawerchuk Dale Martin Hawerchuk (April 4, 1963 – August 18, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Drafted first overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, Hawerchuk played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for ...

will be erected at the plaza in 2022.

Towers

The True North Square is set to feature four towers in total, spanning over 1 million square feet (23 acres) of office, residential, retail, hotel, and public space.

Tower One (242 Hargrave St.)

The first tower is a 17-floor Class A office and retail building located on the south side of the site at 242 Hargrave Street. Completed in June 2018, it was the first privately-developed office building in Winnipeg since 1990. The tower offers approximately of office space. It currently houses Scotiabank's new regional head office, as well as locally-based law firm Thompson Dorfman Sweatman and technology company

Ceridian Ceridian HCM is an American provider of human resources software and services with employees in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and Mauritius. It is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. History Ceridian is a descenda ...

SkipTheDishes SkipTheDishes (styled capitalized, sometimes shortened to just SKIP) is a Canadian online food delivery service headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba and a division of Dutch-based Just Eat Takeaway.com. Users can order and pay for food from par ...

announced in November 2019 the moving of their headquarters to True North Square in December of 2020. The move would consolidate their staff, while maintaining a second city location at 140 Bannatyne Avenue for their 24/7 operations team. SkipTheDishes would occupy of Tower One, spanning four-and-a-half floors. A new food hall, Hargrave St. Market, opened on the second floor on 13 December 2019 and features local and regional restaurants. Currently, the restaurants of Hargrave Street Market include Gusto North, Yard Burger, The Good Fight Taco, Saburo Kitchen, Fools + Horses, and Miss Browns, as well as the Rose Bar and Lake of the Woods Brewing Company. On the first floor of Hargrave St. Market is an

epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism. Few writings by Ep ...

grocery store called Mottola Grocery.

Tower Two (225 Carlton St.)

Tower Two is located at 225 Carlton Street, adjacent to the plaza. Its construction beginning in 2016, the tower opened in July 2019 as a 25-storey residential rental building featuring of complementary commercial and residential space. In 2018, the Manitoba government decided to go ahead with plans to move the Manitoba Liquor Mart from Cityplace mall to True North Square. The old Liquor Mart at Cityplace closed in January 2020, when the newer larger store opened at 225 Carlton Street.

Tower Three and Four (220 Carlton St.)

The Sutton Place Hotel is set to occupy the 27-floor Tower Three at 220 Carlton Street. The hotel will be built on the site of the former Carlton Inn, which was purchased and demolished by the city in 2014. The hotel is currently under construction. A Chop Steakhouse & Bar will lease a portion of the on the main floor of the Hotel. Tower Four will become the Sutton Place Residence, a 17-floor

residential building A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resi ...

. It is currently under construction and is set to be complete in 2022.

Tower Five

Wawanesa Insurance Wawanesa Insurance—officially The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, also known as Wawanesa Mutual or simply Wawanesa —is a Canadian mutual insurance firm, as well as among Canada's ten largest property and casualty insurers. The company's h ...

announced in June 2019 that 1,100 employees will move from 191 Broadway and five other locations to a new office tower at True North Square. Tower 5 will be 23-storeys tall and will provide of office space. To accomplish this project will require the demolition of the former Hull's bookstore and the

Royal Winnipeg Ballet The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. History It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally (who also fou ...

dormitory building behind it. A new RWB dormitory will be constructed at a location to be determined. Tower Five is scheduled for completion by 2023 and will have

skywalk A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclos ...

connections to the rest of the TNS development and main floor access to the Graham Avenue Transit Mall.

External links

Official websiteHargrave Street Market

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:True North Square Buildings and structures in downtown Winnipeg Streets and squares in Winnipeg True North Sports & Entertainment James Richardson & Sons