team at 5468796 asked Afshin and Alkarim if they would ever consider working in Winnipeg, and that led to them coming to the city and purchasing some land – though, not initially the Great West Metal Building. “CentreVenture was leading the charge on a project on Waterfront – that we still actually own – just one block north of Alexander,” Alkarim recalls. “When we were there, we saw that land was for sale too. And that actually had this amazing heritage asset; it wasn’t just a bare piece of land. So we put an offer on that site, and lo and behold that became our single largest project.” “I hadn’t been to Winnipeg up until about three-and-ahalf years ago,” he adds, “and everything I had heard about it wasn’t very positive. But then I went there and I was blown away. It’s an incredible fabric. The heritage is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The arts and culture. The winter city vibe it has. I just felt like it was a sleeper, it was a hidden gem. Not very many people are considering it or looking at it, but a lot of the people that go there tend to stay there, and there’s a real good reason for that.” “So to be a part of the East Exchange and to be on Waterfront Drive – that was just a great opportunity,” he says. “The East Exchange is one of the most incredible neighborhoods I’ve ever seen. We just jumped at it as soon as we saw it.” When designing the development, Alkarim says they had their usual goals – they wanted to reinvigorate the neighborhood and bring people in, they wanted to add density to the community, and they wanted to create spaces that were affordable so more people access them. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA
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