Prep work begins on project
Tim Banks says Killam making adjustments to plans to try and appease residents of Charlottetown waterfront apartment building
Preliminary work has begun on an eight-storey apartment building on the Charlottetown waterfront.
Killam Apartment Reit is in the process of carrying out site work at 15 Haviland St., a structure that will be built between the Queen Charlotte Armoury and the Culinary Institute of Canada.
It will also stand directly between Renaissance Place, a five-storey, 42-unit apartment building on Haviland Street, and the water’s edge.
The plan is to start construction in May.
Tim Banks, who speaks for Killam, recently met with more than 20 of the residents of Renaissance Place to discuss their concerns about the project and to let them know that Killam may be tweaking things.
At the moment, the ground between Renaissance Place and the water is marked by stakes and those stakes stretch up to the midway portion of the parking lot at the rear of the existing apartment building.
Fencing is expected to be going up soon to mark the Killam property, which could include up to half of the parking at Renaissance Place.
However, Banks told The Guardian that the fence will not block off any of the parking at Renaissance Place this fall.
“We listened to their concerns with respect to parking, traffic and the blocking of their view,’’ Banks said.
“We also clarified a lot of misinformation related to our project and gave them a copy of the executed development agreement signed by us and the city.’’
Banks said Killam may turn the building, meaning change the angle at which it is built, to improve the view of the water for some of the residents of Renaissance Place.
“We told them we had an application before the city and the province to do some preliminary site work and that we would be fencing in our property. They were concerned that they wouldn’t have parking spaces for the winter so we agreed to move the fencing back until the spring,’’ Banks said, adding that the developers have since received the necessary permits for the preliminary work.
Killam is also looking at adding another level of parking within the approved height restriction that Banks says could relieve some parking frustration for Renaissance Place.
“We may be able to free up some spaces for them.’’
City council has not had any involvement in this process as the land is owned by Killam and the project is as-of-right, based on zoning rules passed by the previous council. That means no public meeting was required before the project started.
Therefore, it would be the city’s planning department that would be handling permit applications going forward.
The project will also involve Killam having to tear up the boardwalk on the property although Banks said that may not take place until the spring.
Banks told residents of Renaissance Place that Killam has asked the federal government for permission to access the project site via Queen Charlotte Armoury and, if that doesn’t work, will approach the culinary school to come in off their land.
Banks added that Charlottetown-Victoria Park MLA Karla Bernard, Mayor Philip Brown and Coun. Alanna Jankov, who represents the area on council, will all be part of the discussions about the project.