‘No one’s building them like this’: Fort Garry Hotel hits the market

Winnipeg’s Fort Garry Hotel is now available for purchase.

An iconic Winnipeg landmark is hitting the market.

Avison Young, along with Cushman and Wakefield, announced the Fort Garry Hotel is being put up for sale.

“(It) has been with the private owners for over three decades, and they’ve been great stewards of it,” said Curtis Gallagher, the principal and Canadian head of hotels at Avison Young.

“It’s just time for them to move on and pass it on to the next owners to take it to the next chapter of its life.”

The hotel boasts around 60,000 square feet with 236 suites. It originally opened in 1913 as the Canadian National Hotel and became a historic site in 1981.

Avison Young notes it’s a hotel that benefits all kinds of travellers, both for entertainment and for work, highlighting the many locations in the downtown it is close to, from the RBC Convention Centre and Canada Life Centre to The Forks and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

“When you’re looking at an iconic asset like this, you know, 100 years old, they’re irreplaceable. So it’s interesting when you try and look at all the various components that drive revenue at an asset like this. No one’s building them like this.”

The hotel was for sale in 2019, but Gallagher said the sale eventually fell through due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

No listing price was provided for the hotel, with Gallagher explaining a price is usually negotiated once there is a qualified investor.

He said this is the type of property any investor can get involved in, even if they are in the hotel industry.

“If they aren’t a traditional hotel investor, there are third-party options that they can hire and rely on to help them run the asset for them or asset manage it for them, where they can be a passive investor, and that’s how we’ve positioned it. Here’s a way in which you can own this, even if you don’t know the hotel business.”

So far, he said there has been good interest and he expects the hotel could be sold before the end of this year.