Former PC leadership candidate and potential Turtle Mountain candidate Wally Daudrich has bought the party’s old office opposite the Manitoba Legislature grounds.

North Coast Aggregate, a holding company Daudrich owns, has purchased 23 Kennedy St., a 3,610-square-foot wood-frame home with a stone foundation. Built in 1912, the building is across the street from the lieutenant-governor’s residence.

Provincial records show North Coast bought the property from Nocorp Investments for $600,000. The property was listed for sale for $800,000.

The 114-year-old home, once known as the Reid House, served as the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba’s headquarters from the 1970s until 2025, when it was put up for sale in the hopes of raising funds for the cash-strapped party.

Daudrich said he intends to restore the heritage home and use it to hold receptions for his Churchill-based tour company, Lazy Bear Expeditions. He said he takes clients who spend time in Winnipeg before visiting Churchill on tours of the Manitoba Legislative Building.

“I just thought the opportunity to bring it back to its pre-World War I glory was way too much to resist,” Daudrich said in an interview from outside Morden, Man.

Daudrich said he was on his way to see a woodworking company in Deloraine in the hopes of securing new bur oak floors for the building.

He said he did not buy 23 Kennedy only to provide a financial boost for the PCs. Daudrich said he’s spent a lot of time inside the building and knows it well.

“I’m going to make some money off it,” he said.

Nocorp, the former owner, held the home in trust for the PCs, PC Leader Khan said in December.

The Manitoba NDP complained about the sale to the provincial elections commissioner, arguing the PCs can not recoup the revenue because the building was owned by a corporation.

Corporate donations to political parties are not permitted in Manitoba. The elections commissioner has yet to rule on the complaint.

Khan, who beat Daudrich for the PC leadership last year, said in December that the move out of the building has already yielded dividends for his party.

“For eight years, we’ve tried to move out of our old building at 23 Kennedy, and we finally did,” Khan said in an address to party members.

“We’re now in 5 Donald [Street]. Half the rent, half the costs and bonus — there’s no mice at 5 Donald!”

Khan’s December statement led Premier Wab Kinew to poke fun at the sale in question period, noting the party received $200,000 less than the asking price.

“Maybe next time you sell a property, don’t go telling CBC News that it has mice in it,” Kinew quipped.