Pricey proposition

The controversial condominiums on the city’s waterfront won’t come cheap.

City council on Monday got its first public look at the two 51-unit buildings’ designs, which developers say that at at least $300 a square foot, will ring up between at least $330,000 and $600,000 apiece when they hit the market.

Re Solve Group founder Gisele MacDonald said potential buyers will have to wait before making any downpayments on the units, all of which will overlook Lake Superior and will range in size from 1,100 to 2,000 square feet.

MacDonald said Laureate Developments won’t be given the go-ahead to start erecting the first condo until the hotel deal is signed, and even then construction won’t begin until 50 per cent of the units are sold in the first. As part of the deal signed with the city, the hotel must be underway before the condos can be built.

MacDonald added she must also wait for the site remediation process to be finished, ensuring the property is environmentally safe to build on.

“Our plan is to complete the remediation this fall,” said the city’s waterfront project manager Katherine Dugmore, adding a report on the matter is due before council next Monday.

MacDonald said the second condo won’t be built until the first one sells out.

“It’s going to be totally market-driven. If it’s going to take us three years to fill one building, we’re obviously not going to start building the second. There’s a banking question with that and there is Gisele’s gut feeling on when it’s ready to go,” MacDonald told council, confident the project will be a hit with Thunder Bay’s real estate market. “I really do believe that in enough time ... that these condos will sell out, and probably more quickly than I think.”

Laureate’s Joe Bova said his company is in final negotiations with a major hotel chain that wants to bring a four-star brand to Prince Arthur’s Landing, but while a deal is imminent, he said it’s not appropriate to name names at this stage.

“But I think you’ll be incredibly pleased that they’re coming to Thunder Bay,” said Bova, adding the final price tag for the private-sector will be well over the $60-million original estimate and produce $42 million in wages over the next two to three years.

When finished, the hotel, whose size has yet to be determined, will produce 300 permanent jobs. The two condos will produce 50 spin-off jobs, MacDonald said.

Construction on the hotel, and subsequently the first seven-storey condo, could come within the next year, Bova said.

“I sincerely believe that with some luck we could be very well in position to start building the hotel in six to seven months,” he said.

The condos themselves will embody cutting-edge design, MacDonald said.

With unique, custom designs in each one- to three-bedroom unit, she said it will make them that much more desirable.

“Nothing is the same. The uniqueness of the project is it’s not a cookie-cutter deal,” she said.

The hotel is expected to contain a fitness area, pool and spa, meeting space, a ballroom and a restaurant. Construction on a 135-space underground parking garage will commence with the start of the hotel. An additional 35 above-ground spaces will accommodate the project.

The city added three acres of infill to Marina Park to go with the project, which is expected to generate about $1 million annually in taxes for Thunder Bay.

"The ongoing economic benefit is humungous for Thunder Bay," said Coun. Aldo Ruberto.

Council also passed a resolution agreeing to design changes to the project, which were previously discussed in camera and were not made public on Monday night.