Owners, agents reviewing bids to purchase Fort Garry Hotel

Downtown Winnipeg’s Fort Garry Hotel is a step closer to a potential sale.

The four-star, 113-year-old hotel’s owners and their agents have been reviewing bids from potential buyers, including the Manitoba Métis Federation, which has confirmed it submitted an offer.

“We are in the process of selecting a buyer for the hotel, as this premier hospitality opportunity has been well received by the investment community,” Curtis Gallagher, principal and Canadian hospitality lead with Avison Young said in a statement to the Free Press.

Multiple bids were received from prospective domestic and international buyers.

Avison Young, a global commercial real estate advisory firm headquartered in Toronto, and local broker Cushman & Wakefield Winnipeg, were retained to handle the sale.

The independently owned Fort Garry, acquired by local entrepreneurs Ida Albo and Richard Bel, and Quebec-based Laberge Group in 1993, went on the market in May for the second time in seven years.

The hotel, a national historic site, did not have a list price, but it is expected to sell for tens of millions of dollars.

The federation proceeded with a bid after president David Chartrand revealed in July the federation was looking at making an offer.

“We understand the matter is being reviewed by ownership. The MMF is definitely one of the bidders, so we’ll see where it all lands in the coming days or weeks,” Lorne Pelletier, a senior economic adviser with the federation, said in a statement Thursday.

The federation has purchased several downtown buildings in recent years, including the former Bank of Montreal building at Portage Avenue and Main Street.

Located at 222 Broadway, just west of Main, the Fort Garry has 236 guest rooms and suites, a spa, restaurants, conference and banquet space, and a live entertainment venue that was home to a Yuk Yuk’s comedy club until earlier this year.

Constructed in Château style, the hotel welcomes about 80,000 guests annually and employs nearly 400 people.

Albo told the Free Press in March approximately $5 million has been invested in the Fort Garry since the COVID-19 pandemic, including a new, exclusive “vice regal floor.”

When it went on the market three months ago, the 1.5-acre property was marketed as a rare opportunity and a prominently positioned landmark that is steeped in history.

It was Winnipeg’s tallest building when it was constructed by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, which eventually merged with the Canadian National Railway.

A potential sale was scuttled by the pandemic, which prompted lockdowns and travel restrictions, after the Fort Garry was put on the market in 2019.

Next door, it was announced this week a new restaurant will open in a space that revolves atop Fort Garry Place at 85 Garry St. Owner and chef Alfonso Maury is aiming to open Dos Pampas Skyline Restaurant in October.

Earlier this summer, Canad Inns put the Radisson Hotel at 288 Portage Ave. and two adjacent properties — Somerset Building and Metropolitan Entertainment Centre — on the market as a package.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca