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| 55 Nassau towers over neighbouring apartment blocks in Osborne Village, Winnipeg. [Wikipedia] |
Teaser ads began in March of 1970 for architect Graham Lount’s exciting new building: “55 NASSAU IS WORTH WAITING FOR. OPENING SOON!”1 Ads from Ruttan Investment Corp. Ltd. (“Developers, Builders, owners and managers of Winnipeg’s finest apartment properties”) provided more details later that month.
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| Ruttan Investment Corp. Ltd. initially advertised 55 Nassau as Canada’s tallest apartment building. Later, this claim changed to western Canada’s tallest, and then one of the tallest in western Canada.2 |
A building boom was evident in 1969, with record numbers of building permits issued in Winnipeg. Newspapers reported an “apartment fever” of thousands of planned apartment units. In the first eight months of 1969, permits for 28 apartment blocks were issued, doubling the rate of private home construction.3
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| Photo by Henry Kalen, showing the west façade of 55 Nassau and its sun deck, Nov. 1970. [UM digital archive] |
Not everyone welcomed the development. When the project was first announced and approved, homeowners protested. Their main concern was the increase in traffic such a large building would cause. The $5M project went ahead, though, and was slated to open in May, 1970.
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| “The old wrought iron trimmings on a neighboring building contrast with the stark concrete and steel of what will eventually be one of the tallest apartment buildings in western Canada. The block, being built at 55 Nassau Street by Ruttan Investment Corp. Ltd., now is at the 20-storey level and is to go to 38 storeys high. The $5 million project, to contain 287 suites, is expected to be completed by May, 1970.”4 |
Soaring 38-storeys and 375 feet (109 m), 55 Nassau attracted attention while under construction. As the occupancy date of June 1, 1970 drew closer, press coverage increased. Photos from its upper floors and descriptions of its features promoted the building better than any ads could. The amazing view was always a selling point.
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| Graham Lount’s vision proved popular, and a wait list of tenants grew just as the building did. (This early account mistakenly added a 39th floor.)5 |
Contractors and suppliers were proud of their work at 55 Nassau and happy to have big contracts. Wright Carpets had 10,000 square yards of carpet available for tenants who chose carpeting over parquet flooring. Washington Cabinet Manufacturing Ltd. met the demands for the hundreds of kitchens in 55 Nassau.
Ruttan’s ads in May of 1970 listed monthly rents as low as $158 for a one-bedroom unit and $209 for two bedrooms. Ads often included the building’s unique features:6
- Indoor swimming pool and recreation area
- Centralized heating and air conditioning thermostatically controlled
- Saunas
- Drapes throughout
- Electricity included in rent
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| Potential tenants could view furnished display suites on the second floor while construction continued above. Once it was ready, those visiting display units (open until 10 pm), could also take in the view from the roof.7 |
Other features were noted in ads as the building neared completion. Suites were advertised as being sound-proof, and with only eight units per floor, “you are assured quiet seclusion free from corridor traffic.” (Floor traffic to and from units, garbage rooms, elevators, and laundry rooms would temper this claim, however.)
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Renderings exaggerated 55 Nassau’s tall slim profile. At 109 metres and 38 floors, it is now the second tallest apartment block in Winnipeg, and the sixth tallest building in the city.8
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| Over time, the uniformed doormen, intended to add class to the building, became security staff.9 |
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| Photo by Henry Kalen, showing the glassed-in second-floor walkway to the recreation areas above the parkade, Nov. 1970. [UM digital archive] |
55 Nassau featured poolside gym equipment, and a large outdoor sundeck. A party room adjacent to the pool was sometimes referred to as a reading room or games area. The building’s services included “convenient ground floor shops including a bank, beauty salon, cleaners and [7-Eleven] grocery store.”
One ad suggested said 55 Nassau was a good choice for lazy people, a risky approach that was not repeated.
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| “If you’re lazy and you like convenience, give us a call…”10 |
A March 1971 ad noted there were still units available. Rents were $161 for a one-bedroom apartment, $214 for two bedrooms. Furnished apartments for short- or long-term occupancy were also offered.11 A subsequent ad lured potential tenants with a view from the display apartments now on the 33rd floor. The party room by the pools was noted, adding, “our gals would be pleased to help with any arrangements.”12 By 1973 rents had crept up, but barely: $170 for a one-bedroom, or $230 for two. A one-bedroom furnished suite was available for $250 monthly. A year later, rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $218, or $270 for two.
55 Nassau made the news in 1971 for other reasons. This was not publicity any apartment block wanted.
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The robbers did not get far after their heist on June 18, 1971.13
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| Fountain House is a five-minute walk from 55 Nassau, a bad choice for a hideout.14 |
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| $1500 just wasn’t worth it.15 |
The judge threw the book at Kenneth Arthur Allan. This was not his first offence, and he faced a total of 13 years in prison.
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| A repeat offender on parole, Allan had a long rap sheet, including a sentence of 12 years in 1962.16 |
Allan’s accomplice, Paul Fredrick Grenkow, stood guard during the robbery and wore a blond wig to hide his identity. His get-up didn’t fool anyone for long, and the wig, slacks and frilly white shirt were found in the suite where the robbers were found by the police.
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| Grenkow lived at 473 Wardlaw Avenue, a few blocks down Osborne Street from 55 Nassau.17 |
Life at 55 Nassau settled down after the robbery, but in January of 1974 the bank was robbed again.
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| Not again!18 |
This incident was the first of four bank robberies between January and May 1974 in Osborne Village. Robert Vigeant, lived less than a block from 55 Nassau, at 144 Roslyn Road (where Safeway is now). Police caught him sneaking home on foot after robbing the Bank of Montreal at 464 Stradbrook Avenue at Osborne Street.
Evidence showed Vigeant had robbed the Bank of Commerce, 55 Nassau Street, of $786 Jan. 4; robbed the Toronto-Dominion Bank, 460 River Avenue, of $1,007 Feb. 4; robbed the Bank of Montreal at 460 Stradbrook Avenue of $2,700 March 12; and robbed the same bank and the same teller of $1,405 May 28.19
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| Robert Vigeant found out the hard way that robbing neighbourhood banks to pay the rent was a bad idea. In 1974, an appeal court increased his sentence to four years.20 |
Other businesses in 55 Nassau had their challenges, too.
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| The story did not mention whether the clerk had locked the door when he left. Rookie mistake.21 |
The 7-Eleven store leasing space on the main floor of 55 Nassau struggled and was not profitable. Southland Corporation (Canada) Ltd. closed it in April 1973, and switched to making sandwiches for its other locations. This operation, however, breached a zoning bylaw, and they wound up in court.
Southland started running a “sandwich factory” which is not a permitted use under the zoning bylaw, said [counsel for the Crown] Mr. Kaplan.
He estimated that between 700 and 900 sandwiches were prepared each morning in the high-rise apartment building and the charge had been laid after complaints from other tenants about the small of salami and mayonnaise.22
Despite a warning, the company had continued the sandwich production for several months. This did not impress Judge Gordon McTavish, and in May 1974 he fined Southland Corp. $1000. Subsequently, the sandwich operation moved to a shopping centre on Ness Avenue at Whytewold Road, and 55 Nassau no longer smelled of salami.
Robberies are harrowing enough, but a 1978 incident at 55 Nassau was even more disturbing.
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The kidnapper told Les Rohwinger, “You’re the reason I’m going to jail,” but his motive was never explained in media accounts.23
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The kidnapper, Thomas Charles Lothman, had been a former employee of Shelter Corporation. His anger no doubt fueled his armed kidnapping of the company’s vice-president, Les Rohwinger, but a full explanation was not reported. The two hostages, Shelter executives Rohwinger and Thorsteinson, chose not to comment.
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| Lothman knew he’d wind up behind bars. On July 21, 1978, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.24 |
Perhaps being trapped in the penthouse office prompted the decision to relocate the boardroom to the more convenient main floor. (However, the head office of Shelter Corporation, led by Thorsteinson, has its executive offices in the penthouse 26th floor of nearby Seven Evergreen.)
Like many other apartment blocks in the late 1970s, 55 Nassau was converted to condominiums. There were rules in place for owners and renters, but it was not an easy transition. Some renters welcomed the investment opportunity, but others who could not, or would not take on a mortgage, were upset.
Adway Marketing/Management Services Ltd. entered the scene in the late 1970s with a newspaper campaign that outdid the original classified rental ads. Large display ads promised a gracious, worry-free lifestyle, and hyped the building’s unique features.
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| Buyers were offered the services of on-staff interior designers, and were assured that security was assured by a team of round-the-clock doormen.25 |
Perhaps the kidnapping incident of 1978 prompted ads that stressed the security services in the building. I ads, the helpful, friendly doormen were now profiled as security guards.
When 55 Nassau became a condominium community, it also became a more secure address. Now a uniformed doorman greets owner and their guests. The smile and the manner are courteous. And he is there to assist you in any way he can.
There are other times when the doorman at 55 Nassau must be more cautious than courteous. Within the security room of the main lobby, he constantly monitors the video equipment that keeps entrances to the building under surveillance.
No guests will enter 55 Nassau without the authorization of the owners.26
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“All entrances are protected by a battery of electronic surveillance equipment that works in combination with a special security measure. One who wears a size 44 jacket. Our doorman!”27
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view over Osborne Village from the 36th floor
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55 Nassau turned 55 years old in 2025. Like many towers of that age, it requires a lot of repairs and maintenance. Windows have been replaced, and work is underway to install modern balcony railings and attend to overdue structural repairs.
The attention will ensure that 55 Nassau remains an “address of distinction.”
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Sources (retrieved August 2, 2026)
- “55 Nassau is worth waiting for” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, March 19, 1970, p. 41
- “It’s your move” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, March 27, 1970, p. 45
- iii John Dietz, “Contractors Hit By Apartment Fever,” Winnipeg Free Press, September 15, 1969, p. 3
- Photo by Gerry Cairns, Winnipeg Free Press, August 2, 1969, p. 3. The wrought iron fence was at Heubach House, a 1903 mansion at 64 Nassau Street. A photo of Heubach House can be viewed on Darryl Resch’s Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ0XBm-sSBn/ .
- “Lount Development Near Completion,” Winnipeg Free Press, February 18, 1970, p. 37
- “All Roads Lead to 55 Nassau” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, May 23, 1970, p. 47
- “55 Nassau” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, May 15, 1970, p. 10
- “Why Settle for an Everyday Apartment,” Winnipeg Tribune, September 26, 1975, p. 109
- “An Address of Distinction” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, August 10, 1970, p. 36
- “You Really Don’t Want to Live at 55 Nassau” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, November 2, 1970, p. 36
- “There’s room at the top of 55 Nassau,” Winnipeg Free Press, March 19, 1971, p. 36
- “55 Nassau, an Apartment for Home Lovers,” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, July 18, 1971, p. 14
- “Bank robbed; 4 held,” Winnipeg Free Press, June 18, 1971, pp. 1, 6
- “2 Face Robbery Charge,” Winnipeg Free Press, June 19, 1971, p. 3
- “3 Bank Suspects In Court,” Winnipeg Free Press, June 21, 1971, p. 2
- “8 Years for Bank Robbery,” Winnipeg Free Press, June 24, 1971, pp. 1, 8
- “Robber Gets Six Years,” Winnipeg Free Press, June 29, 1971, p. 10
- “Bank Teller Held Up,” Winnipeg Free Press, January 7, 1974, p. 3
- “4 Court Sentences Upheld, 3 Changed,” Winnipeg Free Press, September 11, 1974, pp. 1, 7
- “Four-Time Robber Gets 30 Months,” Winnipeg Free Press, June 22, 1974, p. 3
- “Clerk Absent, Till Rifled,” Winnipeg Free Press, January 11, 1974, p. 3
- “ ‘Sandwich Factory’ Nets $1,000 Fine,” Winnipeg Free Press, May 14, 1974, p. 29
- Brian Cole, “Man faces eight charges,” Winnipeg Free Press, April 4, 1978, pp. 1, 5.
- “Lothman jailed 7 years,” Winnipeg Free Press, July 22, 1978, p. 6
- “Above all” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, July 20, 1979 p. 117
- “Up. Tight.” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, June 13, 1979, p. 32
- “44•33•35 Opens Us.” ad, Winnipeg Free Press, November 17, 1979, p. 104
