Condos pitched for Twin Pine Hill
Hotel and convention centre idea scrapped
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, April 10, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The dream of building a hotel, convention centre and retail space on Twin Pine Hill has been replaced with a pitch to build 126 condo units.
The land, kitty-corner to St. Patrick's High School, had been zoned for the hotel and convention centre and as recently as 2013 plans were still in place for that idea to move forward.
"We believe under the current zoning ... it's just not economic," said Greg Herndier, who is helping Det'on Cho Corporation develop the land. "It's impossible to finance it."
Instead, the company is pitching rezoning the land to medium density residential. The plan presented to city council at Tuesday's municipal services committee meeting shows 21 low-rise multi-family buildings totalling 126 dwelling units being built on 2.765 hectares of land over four or five years. The developer is hoping the rezoning moves through city hall quickly and told councillors construction is expected to start this summer.
Herndier told councillors the company would build only a few of the structures at a time, constructing more to meet market demand.
"It's easier to finance, it takes the risk out of it," Herndier said.
Councillors Adrian Bell, Cory Vanthuyne, and Bob Brooks said they were happy to see the revised proposal for the land.
"I'm 100 per cent in support of this project and I look forward to it coming forward," Brooks said during the meeting.
The rocky land would be accessed from a new street along a power line right-of-way connecting to 44 Street near St. Patrick's High School. While just outside the limits of what's considered downtown Bell and other councillors said the development would aid revitalization efforts because it is within walking distance of the city core.
"I think it's an excellent way to develop residential that's close to downtown." Brooks said.
Twin Pine Hill "is an area of significance," according to the Natural Area Preservation Study which triggers specific development guidelines in the city's general plan should the project reach the permitting stage.
"In my mind, (it's) the best location in Yellowknife," Herndier said about the lake views from Twin Pine Hill.
The rezoning will go to council next week for first reading. A public hearing would take place before a final vote.
Mayor Mark Heyck said should the process go smoothly, a summer construction start is a reasonable timeline. Vanthuyne initially questioned whether the whole project would be built at once, potentially saturating the market.
"We have seen a little bit of softening in the market when it comes to that type of residential dwellings," he said.
Herndier said the company intends to built 18 to 24 units at a time. If the market cools, they can sit and wait until demand returns.
The units would have two and three bedrooms.
"We think there's a better marketplace for three bedrooms," Herndier said.
The units would be between 950 and 1,270 square feet with their own heating systems.
"We honestly think we're going to hit a price point between $330,000 and $380,000 for two and three bedrooms," he said.
