On July 14th, 2025, Winnipeg’s City Council approved construction of a 168 foot residential tower on King Street as part of phase two of the Market Lands project. It will be built on the site which included of the former 1966 Public Safety Building at 151 Princess Street. While the property is surrounded by built heritage, it is not technically in the Exchange District National Historic Site, and therefore not restricted by the area’s 100 foot building height limit. City planners recommended against allowing the 16 storey tower to move forward, citing it being too tall. Heritage Winnipeg also advocated for the project to be shorter and respectful of the historical context. Despite this, the project will proceed with the demand for housing taking precedence over all other concerns.

A lack of housing, specifically affordable housing, is a major issue in Winnipeg. The Market Lands project is set to help address this issue. Phase two of the project will see the construction of two mixed use buildings on the north end of the site. The shorter building will be four to six storeys tall with 126 residential units. The taller building will be 16 storeys tall with 148 residential units. Residential units will be a combination of affordable and market rent rates. The project is part of the Exchange District BIZ’s “Exchange District Community Investment Strategy,” which aims to increase the residential population of the neighbourhood and it received about $6.8 million in federal housing accelerator funding.

Heritage Winnipeg is acutely aware of the need for housing in the city, along with the densification of the Exchange District. We have been happy to offer support, collaborate on and advocate for several adaptive reuse projects in the neighbourhood that have seen heritage buildings converted into housing. But not all projects are created equal, and so we carefully assess the pros and cons of each, considering how they will impact our built heritage and the community.

In the case of phase two of the Market Lands project, the developers did not work with heritage stakeholders, and offered no compromises or alternative solutions for their disproportionately tall design. Instead, constructive criticism was met with the threat of lost units, essentially framing anyone who did not support the project’s design as against affordable housing.

The Market Lands project is being built from scratch with few constraints. It is not the adaptive reuse of a heritage building or an addition to something already standing. It is a blank canvas, an empty lot that has the potential to be transformed into something great that will serve the community for generations to come. But instead of seizing that opportunity, a plan has been put forth that completely disregards its historic context, with seemingly no interest in finding creative solutions or challenging conventions.

Bigger is not always better, and quantity is not always more important than quality. In a neighbourhood where most buildings are eight storeys or less with interesting architecture, small businesses and trees lining the streets, there is no place for a bland behemoth towering above. People are happiest when buildings are at a human scale, approachable and engaging. The Market Lands site has already suffered the senseless loss of the historic Public Safety Building, demolished despite its potential for adaptive reuse. Replacing it with a new project that is inappropriate in height and design does not right a wrong. It only sets a precedent for buildings in the Exchange District to continue rising upwards until the characteristics that make the neighbourhood great are completely lost in the shadows below.

More affordable housing is critical at this time, but not at all costs.

Featured image: Phase one of the Market Lands project under construction in July 2025. Source: Heritage Winnipeg.