The City of Winnipeg is still losing about $250,000 a year operating the office tower attached to its downtown police headquarters — a 10-storey tower that remains mostly empty a decade after its purchase.

A report to council this fall reveals there are only six commercial tenants in the building.

In 2010, the city acquired the tower at 266 Graham Ave. as part of the $214-million conversion of Canada Post's old downtown Winnipeg campus into a new police headquarters. The old Canada Post warehouse and tower buildings alone cost $29.25 million to buy.

Nine years later, the police service occupies the entire warehouse component of the old Canada Post complex but only utilizes a portion of the tower.

The 2009 report that recommended council proceed with the purchase claimed the city could turn around and sell the tower for $18 million. But the city soon found the tower in need of $20 million worth of renovations.

The city awarded private developer Shelter Canadian Properties the right to redevelop the building in 2016, but couldn't work out a deal.

As a result, few improvements have been made to the tower and the city has not been able to market it to commercial and office tenants, especially in an environment where other downtown Winnipeg landlords are improving their properties.

A report to council's property committee this fall reveals the city only collects $392,963.70 in rent from six commercial tenants, including Canada Post on the main floor.

There's a Starbucks, a Subway restaurant, an optometrist and the Winnipeg Police Credit Union on the second floor, which is part of the city's weather-protected walkway system.

A Winnipeg film company also pays the city $232.50 a year to keep a camera on the roof.

Municipal tenants, including the police, take up 12,000 square feet of space, said Kalen Qually, a spokesperson for the city.

But the annual operating loss on the tower remains $255,000 a year, he said. That figure doesn't include maintenance costs.

The ongoing losses at the tower led former city council property chair John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) to describe the tower as an albatross.

Current property chair Brian Mayes (St. Vital) said the future of the tower has fallen off city hall's radar, thanks to other files occupying the attention of Winnipeg's planning, property and development department.

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Police Service still needs to spend $29 million on a new North District police station plus another $9 million on a new structure to contain the police archives.

There was no room for the archives in the former Canada Post warehouse and the tower can not accommodate the archives, in spite of all its empty space.

The archives required stronger load-bearing floors and higher ceilings, police spokesperson Kelly Dehn said.