Conservatory’s final phase could include 500 homes
Long-range building plan envisions apartment blocks, townhouses to northeast, north of Glenmore building
Water in a man-made stretch of Brandt’s Creek could be diverted back into its natural course as part of a new Glenmore housing project.
Almost 500 homes, most in six apartment blocks but 50 in the form of townhomes, are planned for scrubland to the north and northeast of the Conservatory building.
The long-range building plan, still subject to city council review and approval, would represent the final chapter in the long and troubled financial history of the Conservatory project.
“This has been a long time coming,” Coun. Luke Stack said Monday as council looked over preliminary development plans for the currently vacant land. “I’m quite pleased to see it finally moving ahead.”
Council’s formal action Monday was to begin extinguishing a housing agreement that dates back more than a decade for the ill-fated Conservatory project.
In 2001, original Conservatory plans called for hundreds of luxury condos built around a giant enclosed atrium. Construction did start in 2002, but money problems quickly ensued and the building stalled at the foundation.
The project went into receivership and sat idle for years. New owners finally took over, and the first building was opened for rentals in 2011.
A commercial plaza at the corner of Summit Drive and Glenmore Road is now under construction.
As part of the additional residential construction, complete details of which are expected by this fall or early winter, it’s possible that a section of Brandt’s Creek could be relocated.
Currently, it flows through a man-made ditch immediately adjacent to Valley Road. But its natural course is on the east side of Valley Road, and the area sometimes floods at times of high water.
“If it’s possible, we’d like to restore the creek to its natural location,” planner Ryan Smith told council.
“The creek likes going back there by itself anyway,” Stack quipped, noting he has seen Valley Road flooded with water.
Council heard restoration of the original creek is not certain, but would depend on the involvement of property owners on the east side of Valley Road.