The federal government is investing $10 million in True North’s $650-million Portage Place mall redevelopment project in downtown Winnipeg.

Dan Vandal, the minister responsible for PrairiesCan, announced that the government will support the creation of new retail (including food) and community spaces. The units will be available to diverse entrepreneurs who are seeking to start new businesses, and to not-for-profits offering social and wellness services to the community.

PrairiesCan is the federal economic development agency for the Prairies region. The investment was announced at a news conference where True North President and CEO Jim Ludlow announced that True North has formally triggered its options to purchase the Portage Place buildings from Spruceland, a company owned by Vancouver-based Peterson Group. True North also intends to close on the acquisitions of the mall’s underlying lands and parkade from the Forks North Portage Partnership.

The deals are slated to be completed Tuesday.

As a shareholder in Forks North, the Manitoba government has authorized the sale of Portage Place. The province has also committed to a 35-year lease on most of the space at a new healthcare centre to be included in the redevelopment.

The mall’s sale price has not been disclosed, but the Forks North portion has a $34.5-million price tag.

True North plans to build a 15-storey rental-apartment tower in partnership with the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, which represents 34 First Nations in Manitoba.

Plans also call for a 12-storey healthcare centre designed to provide a primary-care clinic, mental health and addictions support services, and additional renal dialysis capacity, as well as an expansion of private Pan Am Clinic.

True North and SCO are also collaborating on the Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn project. It involves the redevelopment of an adjacent former Hudson’s Bay Company department store into a mixed-use property. Bahgahkinahgohn, is now owned by SCO, which represents 34 First Nations located in Southern Manitoba.

Together the Portage Place and Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn projects encompass about two million square feet. Ludlow said in December that the redevelopments have a total projected cost of $850 million.

True North also owns the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League.

Rendering: Architecture49/True North Real Estate Development