True North will proceed with its $650-million Portage Place mall redevelopment project in downtown Winnipeg, the president of the company’s real estate development arm announced Friday.

Jim Ludlow said 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.

“We will move methodically, but we will move quickly,” said Ludlow of the redevelopment effort.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced that the province, as a shareholder in Forks North, has authorized the sale of Portage Place. The provincial government 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.

“Together, we are going to transform Portage Place into a centre where you can come to get the healthcare and the services you need,” Kinew said in a news release.

“With this project, we can all feel more optimistic about the future of our downtown. This is a great example of what we can accomplish for the people of Manitoba when we work together.”

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. The tower will be known as Project 92, honouring residential school victims, survivors and their families.

The Project 92 name reflects the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call for Canada’s corporate sector to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The 15-storey apartment tower is slated to include affordable and accessible suites that total 40% of the building’s units. The 12-storey healthcare centre is 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. Wehwehneh 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