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HAY RIVER
There has been a change of plan for the future of Hay River's so-called Brown Town, the former Cedar Rest Motel which has been a vacant and boarded-up eyesore for years.

Commonly referred to as ‘Brown Town," these vacant buildings in Hay River will be renovated into a motel. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

The idea of converting it into apartments has been dropped, and it will once again become a motel following a planned $3-million renovation project.

On July 25, town council passed first and second readings of a bylaw to change the zoning of the property back to highway commercial from multifamily. The bylaw is expected to pass third and final reading on Aug. 22.

Duncan Cooke, the property's principal owner, said work will begin soon afterwards on the seven buildings to renovate them into a 39-unit motel.

"There'll be an immediate application for a development permit and hopefully by the end of September or early October we're into full construction scheduling to start phasing the renovations on a per-building basis," said Cooke.

Work would continue on the buildings over the winter, and landscaping and paving would be done next summer.

"They're going to look like a brand-new project," Cooke said.

It will be officially known as Hay River Suites Motel.

The owner will welcome the renovations.

"I'll be happy as heck and I'm sure the community will be thrilled to drive by that thing that's been sitting there for friggin' 20 years looking like a ghetto," said Cooke, who became an owner of the property several years ago.

No one has resided there for about seven years.

The buildings, which sit on eight lots, are former staff housing from Pine Point and have been in Hay River since the early 1990s.

The zoning had been changed several years ago from highway commercial to multi-family for the proposed change to apartments.

However, that idea ran into problems with the town's building bylaw requirement for minimum square footage for a one-bedroom apartment.

Cooke said he was told verbally by the previous administration at the Town of Hay River that the town planner would review the minimum requirement and make recommendations to bring it more in line with the rest of Canada.

"Except it never got done," he said. "The administration of the town didn't make it an issue and the town planner didn't change anything. So, Hay River still has, by comparison, some of the highest square foot requirements for one-bedroom apartments."

The town's minimum requirement for one-bedroom apartments is 750 square feet, he noted. "In other jurisdictions, they can be as low as 550 square feet."

Cooke said the Brown Town apartments would have been 550 square feet under the previous renovation idea.

Mayor Kelly Schofield said the town had been talking about adjusting the minimum requirements, but was not willing to lower them enough for the property owner.

"So even though we were trying to address that in the general plan, it still would not meet their expectations so they opted to go back to highway commercial, which their units fit into for zoning, and then they can now rent those as motel units rather than as apartments," Schofield said.

Cooke said he is disappointed to have put a lot of effort into designing apartments for affordable housing, but he noted not being able to convert the buildings to apartments may have been for the best since the town has hit an economic funk.

"So it's probably in hindsight a bit of a blessing that it's been delayed, and, now that there's full approval to proceed with the new health centre directly across the highway from this development, the timing is actually very good for a suites motel development," he said.

Schofield said having the property renovated will be huge for the town.

"This has been an area of concern for many residents for many years, as it is one of the first things you see when you come into town," he said.

The mayor added it will help eliminate the "hard-bitten stigma" that was attached to Hay River by an infamous profile in the travel guide Lonely Planet.

"That's all going to be washed away just with that one initiative alone," he said.

Plus, Schofield predicted the development will mean more taxation for the town and more jobs for residents.

"It's a great economic boon for Hay River," he said. "It's just a win-win here. Getting the eyesore out of the way, plus creating more job opportunities." Cooke noted there will be a resident manager and two or three housekeepers working at the motel.

The renovation work will be done by Cooke's company, Arctic Canada Construction.

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