Heritage Winnipeg is seeing an increase of empty heritage buildings, but that may not mean that they are abandoned.

Cindy Tugwell, Executive Director of Heritage Winnipeg says there is a low number of abandoned heritage buildings in Winnipeg, but many buildings are sitting empty. She adds that "each building has a story" for why they are not in use.

Buildings are designated as heritage locations because they are made with materials that companies no longer have access to, or were built using skills that we no longer have a trade for. This makes construction difficult, causing delays or unintended damage. Some buildings, such as the McLaughlin Carriage Building on Princess Street, experience major construction difficulties that not only endanger their buildings but the ones surrounding it as well.

"It's a very complicated issue," Tugwell says. She adds that "the onus is on the owner" to fix up the property, but many choose not to. 

Some of the most common reasons buildings may become vacant are that a building is being used as part of a business portfolio, a family inherited the property and did not have any plans for it, or owners are waiting for the building to decay and get permission to bulldoze the building.

"They all have their own challenges."

"Many will sit on the building in hopes that it will go up in market value," Tugwell says.

The biggest issue for owners when renovating a heritage building is changing the zoning or bringing the building up to code.

"You want to maintain the heritage elements of the building," Tugwell says. 

The vacant buildings also attract squatters, which can cause the building to become damaged quicker than the regular ageing process.

Tugwell says each building "has a story" for why it is empty, and that 'they all have their own challenges."

Older buildings need to be brought up to code with the city's regulations, but that has proven to be difficult in some cases. Heritage Winnipeg hopes that building owners will find "creative solutions" to the property.

There is currently an overabundance of commercial property in Winnipeg, and Heritage Winnipeg hopes to see heritage buildings become homes.