Fire was arson, owner says
Developer plans to rebuild Kilbride condominium
On Monday afternoon you could still smell the smoke at the scene of the fire that destroyed the soon-to-be Parkview Condos on Bay Bulls Road.
The development is owned by B.A. Tucker Ltd., and Nevin Hollett of Hollett Group, Royal Lepage, was handling the sales of the condo units.
Hollett says this incident will not discourage the developers.
“The plan is to rebuild,” said Hollett. “There was a lot of interest in these units because they were so affordable.”
The two-storey condominium was to hold 14 units, one of which was already sold, with another five sales supposed to close on Monday.
“It would have been six out of the 14 units sold by today,” said Hollett.
He told The Telegram that the shell of the building was almost complete, as the siding was just installed. There was no plumbing or electrical work completed inside the condominium.
The fire was reported at 2:30 a.m., and firefighters arrived at the scene soon after on Bay Bulls Road just south of the Pitts Memorial turnoff to downtown St. John’s.
Residents in surrounding houses evacuated their homes as a safety precaution.
The heat from the fire melted the vinyl siding of two houses directly across the street from the condominium.
“It could have been much worse,” said Hollett. “We’re very lucky that nobody was hurt.”
Although all details are not clear, Hollett says one thing is for sure.
“Somebody burnt it down,” he said. “We know that much for now.”