Large Multi-Family

Two apartment buildings on the same street can cost very different amounts per unit. The reason is rarely finishes or land price. It is decisions made before the first drawing: which building code track the project lands on, what the zoning actually allows, and how the building sits on the lot.

Summit Design Build is a Winnipeg design-build and construction management firm for large multi-family and mixed-use projects: mid-rise apartments, rental buildings, and residential over ground-floor commercial. We work for developers and investors from feasibility through to occupancy.

What we are building now

Summit is construction manager on two buildings at Railside at The Forks, Site 11 and Site 13. Railside is one of the largest residential developments underway in Winnipeg: up to ten mid-rise buildings of four to six storeys on Israel Asper Way, with ground-floor commercial in every building and roughly 350 units in the first phase.

That is the range this page is about. Four to six storeys, mixed-use, market or mixed-income rental above, built under Part 3 of the Manitoba Building Code.

The first question on every project: Part 9 or Part 3?

Manitoba’s building code splits residential buildings into two regulatory tracks. Part 9 covers buildings up to 3 storeys and under 600 square metres of building area. Cross either line and the project moves to Part 3, which generally brings:

• Structural engineering stamped by a professional engineer, instead of prescriptive tables
• Stricter fire separation and, in most cases, sprinklers
• Elevator and accessibility requirements
• A longer, more document-heavy permit process

It is a step change in cost, not a gradual one. Projects near the line often have real options, such as splitting one building into two or adjusting the storey count, but only if those calls are made before drawings are finalized. We walk through the numbers in the 3-storey code line for multi-family construction in Winnipeg.

Feasibility: what the site can actually hold

Before a client commits to a purchase, we test the zoning envelope. On a recent corridor site under evaluation, a 4,695 sq ft lot could hold either 16 or 52 apartments over ground-floor commercial, depending on how far the building was taken under the Malls and Corridors zoning overlay, with no parking minimum. Same land, same purchase price, a 36-unit difference.

That is the answer we aim to give before you close, not after. A feasibility review covers:

• Zoning envelope: height, setbacks, stepbacks and density
• Code track, Part 9 or Part 3, and what it means for the budget
• Unit count and unit mix, with options tested side by side
• Parking requirements, or the lack of them
• An early construction budget

How a design-build project runs

Design and construction sit with one team under one contract, so cost is checked against the design as it develops instead of being discovered at tender.

1. Feasibility. Zoning, code track, massing and unit count, before you commit.
2. Design. Architectural and engineering drawings through our design team and consultants, priced as they progress.
3. Permits. City of Winnipeg development and building permits.
4. Construction. Construction management: trade procurement, scheduling, site supervision and cost control.
5. Handover. Occupancy, deficiencies and, if you want it, property management for the finished building.

Recent projects

• Railside Site 13: a six-storey mixed-use building at The Forks, with 35 homes above commercial space at grade. Building permit application approved pending payment.
• Railside Site 11: six storeys and 25 homes over a 2,150 SF retail unit at grade, in design and following Site 13.
• 3615 Main Street: a hotel and office building converted to fire evacuee housing for the Manitoba Métis Federation, a Part 3 alteration with a 127-person occupant load.

Looking at something smaller?

For a duplex, triplex or fourplex, see small multi-family construction in Winnipeg. Most infill stays under Part 9, and the economics work differently.

Planning an apartment building in Winnipeg? Send us the address, and we will tell you what the site can hold and which code track it falls under. Talk to the Summit team.