City steps back on eco-housing
Future of 48 Street project rests with developer
Simon Whitehouse
Northern News Services
Published Friday, July 18, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The city's involvement in a 24-unit eco-housing development seems to be on the back burner as a tender for construction failed to reach any bidders in May.
Originally conjured up in 2011 by the city to rehabilitate the downtown core and offer different styles of housing - including more affordable housing - city councillors now say the initiative has lately become less of a priority.
The ongoing plans were aimed at providing a four-storey, 465 square-metre, 24-unit development right beside Boston Pizza on 48 Street. The project is supposed to go on a 30-metre-by-45-metre parcel of land where three decrepit houses currently stand.
According to Jeff Humble, director of planning and economic development, construction plans for the project were completed in May when the city put the project to tender, but no responses were received. Now it is up to the owner of the lots to get the project going, if it happens at all.
"The developer is essentially responsible to get it to tender and that is Tony Chang of TC Enterprises," said Humble. "What we discussed with (TC Enterprises) is to look at doing just an invitation to a couple of contractors. They are in the process of looking at that and hopefully getting some tenders on the project."
Chang was contacted this week, but declined comment on what the timetable is for the project is or if contractors have been contacted to move the project forward. He referred all questions to Humble. Wayne Guy, owner of Guy Architects, who has partnered with Chang for the design phase, was out of town for the week, according to his office.
| ""It has to work in the real world in terms of the economics" |
A 50-page document called the Yellowknife Eco-Housing Project: Final Report was presented to the city last December. In the document, plans were laid out for an L-shaped building that would have modern environmental features available including prefabricated construction techniques, water conservation methods and heat recovery ventilation.
The project aims to give people closer access to work and play by having the building downtown.
Humble says there are some obstacles in the way.
"Part of the issue is, because it is a modular development, they are looking for a modular supplier so they will need a contractor to then work with that supply to get the project built," said Humble.
Both Mayor Mark Heyck and Humble said the project may not even go ahead at all. Heyck said the project has been one that the city has been working on over at least three years in order to contribute to a revitalized downtown and more energy-efficient buildings.
"It has to work in the real world in terms of the economics of it. I think that is the stage we are at right now, where the developer is trying to assess whether they can go ahead and whether or not it is economical in a market like Yellowknife," said Heyck.
Heyck said the project has not been discussed much by council for at least a year, but he still sees the idea of eco-housing important to council's goals because it promotes multi-family dwellings downtown.
Other councillors admit the issue seems on the back burner, and that is because other projects in the city have been a higher priority.
"A lot of the reason why this is now seemingly on the back burner is because of the success of development that the city has promoted in the last four or five years," said Coun. Cory Vanthuyne.
"Four or five years ago there was more of an identification with getting subsidized and/or social housing on the market. Now when you can get into a started one-bedroom condo at Copper Sky or Niven Heights and a number of infill projects in the downtown ... it has probably lent to this project not getting as much attention."
Coun. Bob Brooks, who headed the former Smart Growth Implementation Committee, admitted there hasn't been an update to council for quite some time, but he remains optimistic about the project.
"I am hoping once we get this project off the ground and finalized and people can see it that we can get baseline data, more and more projects will go that way," he said.
