A vacant Winnipeg hotel destroyed by a fire on Wednesday was to be turned into housing, a local realtor says.
Brad Gross says he recently sold the now-demolished former Sutherland Hotel to a buyer who planned to convert the historic building, built in 1882, to housing.
“You know, these empty buildings are tough to sell — I’m not going to be skirting around that one,” Gross told 680 CJOB’s Connecting Winnipeg. “It’s unfortunate to see it all go up in smoke.
“I did get it sold, and we had the paperwork, the deposit cheque coming, and the possession date coming up in a few months here … and then this happens. It’s horrible news.”
Gross said the hotel, when renovated, could have been a solid money-making investment for the buyer.
“Each room at $600 times 50, it’s easy math — and plus you have the commercial on the main (floor),” he said.
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“It would have made almost $600,000 a year. Just a remarkable opportunity for somebody, (an opportunity) that is now gone.”
Gross said the building had been vacant for some time, but the outlook for the structure had been positive until the blaze.
Marshall Wiebe, a Point Douglas resident, told 680 CJOB that he’s proud to live in the neighbourhood, but said repeated fires continue to plague the community, and he’s worried someone will eventually get hurt.
“We can talk about fires and how ugly it is for the neighbourhood, but for public safety, it’s a life and death issue now,” Wiebe said.
“It’s a colossal waste of our fire services … these fires happen and then it’s forgotten about. Who causes these fires? It’s always just a big question mark.”
The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said Wednesday the cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
Wiebe said he’d like to see the city make it easier for people to invest in the area, as the current situation is scary and can’t continue.
“You have a guy who wants to take over a property — let him go at it. The city seems to be in the way of a lot of these initiatives.
“We have these vacant lots in our area… even if they do have fences, they get cut or torn down. Even if you did have a business venture in mind, who would want to invest in this area of North Main? It’s frustrating.”
Keith Horn with the North End BIZ says a devastating fire is constantly on his and other area business owners’ minds.
“We don’t know how this one started yet, but… no, it’s not a surprise,” he said.
Horn, who runs the Northern Hotel down the street from the Sutherland Hotel, says the number of businesses in the area has nearly halved in the past decade.
“It’s another building gone in the area which won’t be replaced,” he said.
The United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg told Global News Saturday that 2024 saw roughly 20 vacant building fires per month; union president Nick Kasper said 10 years ago, the average was one.
The hotel was reduced to a pile of rubble Thursday morning after it was deemed a total loss in the fire.
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