people who were facing housing insecurity. She was serving that role when the pandemic hit, which not only exacerbated the housing crisis, but also resulted in the “evacuation” of almost all of Winnipeg’s downtown. “People who came downtown every day for work were no longer coming,” Rochelle recalls. “They were working from home. Downtown revitalization initiatives were put on pause. And because of a variety of circumstances, there was an emergent need for social housing and the burgeoning unhoused population grew and expanded.” As a Minister responsible for social housing, Rochelle focused a lot at that time on supporting transitional shelters, opening up new shelters, and also building new housing units. In that role, however, she saw firsthand how challenging it is for governments to be “nimble and agile” in creating housing to meet a specific emerging demand. CentreVenture, on the other hand, is an organization that does have the nimbleness and agility to move quickly and deliver much-needed housing and development projects at a faster rate, particularly in Winnipeg’s downtown. A year after leaving government, Rochelle was excited to come aboard and help lead that charge. She started in January 2025 and in her limited time there she has already seen a lot of progress. The Market Lands project, for example, is already under construction and “proceeding quite significantly at a rapid pace.” The first phase is projected to be substantially completed by the end of the year, with occupancy to come in the following months. Construction progress on the mixed-use building and arts cube at Market Lands, 148/150 King Street. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA
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