Initiated by the Réseau Compassion Network, this $15 million project is a 48-suite mixed-income rental apartment complex with related services on the main floor. Twenty units are designed to be affordable housing for new immigrants, people living with disabilities and those struggling with mental health and addictions. This project has effectively turned a surface parking lot into a high-density development which bodes very well for businesses in the Norwood Grove. Upon substantial completion, the entire facility is leased up which is a good indication of the housing needs in this area.

This project is a 6-storey mixed-use building development encompassing sixty-five residential units and two small scale commercial units on the ground floor and it was completed over the last year. We are incredibly pleased with the result of this high-density project which adds new vibrancy to the area.

In collaboration with the Union nationale métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba, Entreprises Riel has led the development of a commemorative site – the site of the “La Barrière” event in St-Norbert. This project was set to launch in the context of Manitoba’s 150^th anniversary but for various reasons, the project was delayed.

One of the opening acts of the Red River Resistance was the erection of a barricade across the Pembina Trail in October of 1869. The Métis community of St-Norbert had been the site of numerous meetings over the course of the summer of 1869 under the guidance of the parish priest, Father Noël-Joseph Ritchot, and Louis Riel. It was known that William McDougall had been appointed Governor of the territory by the Canadian Government and was on his way to Fort Garry to take his post. Riel and Father Ritchot insisted that this was not to happen unless certain rights were guaranteed. Hence, a group of Métis men on horseback were sent to Pembina to greet Mr. McDougall. Upon receipt of the written warning, McDougall had elected not to proceed beyond the American border, yet on the 1st of November, two members of his proposed administration did reach the barricade and were escorted back to Pembina by Riel’s men. In celebration of the success of their efforts, Riel and Ritchot erected a cross at the site of the barricade and appended a note “Digitus Dei Est Hic” (God’s finger is here).

For several reasons, the site of the actual event was no longer identified and Entreprises Riel lead the charge to correct this. We are pleased to advise that we officially broke ground for this development in early September 2022 and held a press conference to open the site for the public on the 153^rd anniversary in October 2022. This new destination is a terrific addition to the growing list of tourism attractions in the Riel District.

Entreprises Riel will sometimes work on major projects that do come to fruition although they may ultimately find their forever home outside of our district.  We had been trying to recruit a hotelier to take interest on a land assembly that we had undertaken on Provencher Boulevard. The Germain Family from Québec was approached by Entreprises Riel and WTC- Winnipeg (ANIM at the time) a number of years ago. We participated in recruitment missions to Québec and hosted the Germain’s in St-Boniface a number of times. Once they got a better understanding of the value and potential of our city, unbeknownst to us, Centre Venture approached them to look at Portage Avenue as a larger project. The deal happened and the ALT Hotel opened in 2015 and served as a catalyst for the larger Centrepoint development.

“The 160-room hotel that features stylish design and room fixtures as well as free Wi-Fi and a year-round fixed room rate of $149 was the catalyst and anchor for the $100 million mixed-use Centrepoint development…” Martin Cash, Winnipeg Free Press.

We are proud to have played a pivotal role in this downtown investment. This project has created many new jobs and has spurred a major downtown development. Not all is lost.

Our involvement in Thermëa by Nordik Spa-Nature dates back to 2008.  Approached with a business proposal by St-Boniface residents and an entrepreneurial couple, Entreprises Riel began assisting this entrepreneur initially by convincing the Québec franchisor to consider Manitoba as a location, after which we spent months identifying properties for the development. Taking advantage of our municipal contacts, we proposed a partnership with the City of Winnipeg to invest in the Windsor Park Golf Course property for the spa. After months of negotiations, the city ultimately steered the group towards another site, the Crescent Drive Golf Course, outside of the Riel District. It opened in 2013 and has been hugely successful as a major new attraction for our city.

Again, we are proud to have played a pivotal role in this investment from outside of our province. This project has created one hundred new positions.

St-Norbert is the southern gateway into the City of Winnipeg. A community rich with French and Métis roots dating back to the early 1800s and chock-full of stories and heritage assets that would be mostly missed as you travel through it via the six-lane tarmac that is Pembina Highway. Looking to change this, Entreprises Riel collaborated with community groups to survey needs and aspirations. It quickly became clear that housing options were required. The community was comprised of almost exclusively single-family homes and a seniors’ complex but nothing in between. We understood that we needed to attract investment to find housing alternatives so the community could find options to age in place.

Our first order of the day was to create an inviting area where people would stop to take notice and where residents would gather and be proud of their chosen community. Entreprises Riel undertook a series of main street beautification initiatives while collaborating with community advocates to find ways of starting a new Business Improvement Zone. Both were achieved and people, investors and government started to take notice. We were approached by the provincial government to see if we required funding to study the growth potential of the Farmers’ Market. The market happened to be thinking about this and the funding gave birth to the Vision 2020 Study and report that has guided the growth of the market since then. Drainage projects, a permanent structure and bathrooms have since been added allowing the market to grow as a year-round attraction. Simultaneously, we worked with the City of Winnipeg to undertake a secondary plan and a design guideline for the area. We then approached developers that understood the community and that would be willing to consider investing in high-quality housing developments as a starting point. This brought the Renaissance to the market which sold out before it was built. This success opened the gates and with our guidance, developers have developed all available parcels on Pembina since then.

The councillor for St-Norbert had asked Entreprises Riel for assistance to see how we could address parking concerns for three growing groups in the area: the Marché St-Norbert Farmers’ Market, École Noël-Ritchot and the St-Norbert Community Centre. Working with the owner of an unused parcel of land that abuts all three interest groups, we managed the zoning, design, fundraising and construction of a new parking lot, serving as a critical piece of infrastructure to accommodate growth.

In doing so, a community advocate challenged us by asking that we go beyond traditional design and help find ways to recycle water runoff from the site, retain it and make use of it. This swelled (pun intended) into a massive undertaking involving multiple stakeholders and landowners. A new group was formed, and they decided to name the project Drainage Inside the Dike, as the 11 hectares involved were not draining properly as they were surrounded by a dike along the Red River.  In a nutshell, the project involved sculpting of land with berms, swales and rain gardens that would hold onto water and allow it to slowly seep into the ground instead of running off fast into the stormwater sewer system. Native plantings, such as Big Bluestem, Black-eyed Susans and Buffalo Grass, with their long roots, soak up some of the phosphorus and nitrogen that we do not want to get into our freshwater. Today, this bio-retention project solved much of the standing water issues for the Farmers Market, the Community Centre, the École Noël-Ritchot and the local community gardens. The school also uses the new development as a study site to teach students about environment and water stewardship.