True North Sports & Entertainment Limited today issued the following statement with regards to development of property at 220 Carlton Street:
“To all those that have been following the recent developments with regards to this matter we appreciate your patience while providing True North an opportunity to respond. We would also like to thank CentreVenture for taking its time to provide a well-considered, thoughtful and balanced response to the recent public commentary directed toward CentreVenture and True North.
We can confirm statements made today by CentreVenture regarding an Option Agreement for the 220 Carlton Street property entered into by True North in September of 2014 with the owners of that property.
Subject to certain conditions to be negotiated in a subsequent Development Agreement, this Option Agreement provides True North with rights to acquire that property at a designated point of time in the future. The Agreement also provides for a fair market value mechanism to determine the value of the property upon acquisition. The option has not been exercised.
The property at 220 Carlton along with a number of other downtown properties contiguous to it are part of a broader land assembly package to the southwest of the MTS Centre and the northeast of the RBC Convention Centre currently under development review by True North and its partners.
True North is now undertaking a thorough due diligence exercise involving these lands the purpose of which is to determine the viability of a very significant mixed used real estate development for downtown Winnipeg. This development would include office, hotel, retail, residential, parking and public plaza components. During this process we have considered major mixed use real estate projects in other cities developed by our industry peers including Maple Leaf Square in Toronto and LA Live in Los Angeles. It is anticipated that this investment in our downtown will greatly enhance Winnipeg and its SHED district.
As many of you who have followed the growth of our organization over the years will appreciate, it is not our common practice to comment publicly on these kinds of investment projects until such time as we have reasonably come to the end of our due diligence process.
As recently indicated we continue to be enthusiastic about the opportunities for Winnipeg as a community and in particular its downtown. For 2015 we are continuing with our investment and upgrade plan in the MTS Centre.
We remain committed as an organization to a bright future for Winnipeg and the ongoing opportunities for True North and its partners to invest in Winnipeg, its people, its commercial infrastructure and our collective future together in our home town.
Thank you very much.”
