The Manitoba Métis Federation has acquired former National Research Council properties in downtown Winnipeg from the federal government.

The acquisition covers two buildings, including an office tower and separate structure contain laboratories, and supports the MMF’s ongoing efforts to revitalize downtown Winnipeg while expanding the group’s commercial real estate portfolio to more than one million square feet of office space under management. The former NRC property is expected to be reactivated for new uses, with the NRC stating it is pleased the site will continue serving the community, said the MMF.

The federation plans to use the office tower for its operations, while the laboratory building will be leased to tenants focused on research, innovation and commercialization. The tower is also expected to host specialized activities aimed at supporting the health and wellness of Manitobans.

The sale concludes a years-long legal dispute between the MMF and NRC surrounding the federation’s attempt to purchase the two-building site, The Winnipeg Free Press reported.

“Everybody’s happy, they’re happy, we’re happy. And now we just got to start the transition of our plan,” federation president David Chartrand told the Free Press.

“We’re bringing another 100 to 120 employees downtown and we’ve already [moved] 500 employees there to show our support for a revision and saving of downtown. I’m very concerned as a leader, to see our cities start to fall. We need to do more.”

Chartrand told his interviewer that more than 100 staff who work at Métis Child and Family Services Authority will relocate to the Ellice Avenue site from offices at 2000 Portage Ave.

Plans call for the lab building, which includes more than 70 labs, will be repurposed for nurse training, Métis-led research initiatives; Chartrand hopes, it will eventually house an MRI machine that could be used during 4,000 appointments annually, the Free Press reported.

“We’re going to start with [training licensed practical nurses] right away,” Chartrand told the Free Press. “I know there’s a mass shortage of nurses and nurses are having to work a lot of overtime as it is.”

The Free Press reported that fhe federation is partnering with the Bioscience Association of Manitoba to make unused laboratory space available to industry, researchers and academic institutions at a time when demand for specialized lab facilities outpaces supply.

“Our No. 1 export is medicine,” Andrea Ladouceur, the BAM’s president and CEO, told the Free Press. “One thing that Manitoba needs more of is lab space — lab space that can be used to help, whether it’s a new or an established company or researcher, make those discoveries that help us improve healthcare, improve agriculture, improve clean technologies.”

The shortage of lab space has forced some Manitoba companies and researchers to look outside the province,” said in the interview with the Free Press, adding that the building’s specialized infrastructure, including backup power systems, makes it particularly valuable for research.

“It is built to a standard that is pretty rare nowadays,” she said.