Highrise resort complex revived after three years
Three years after the city approved the project, plans for the controversial Aqua Resort are headed back to council.
Applications for a development permit and a development variance permit for Aqua, concerning such things as height, setbacks and parking, have been filed with city planners.
Council granted permission for the project, with towers of 16-, 14-, and 12storeys containing more than 300 homes, in January 2018, but construction has not started.
Development permits typically expire after two years. The new application indicates the project still consists of three residential towers, a boat storage facility, clubhouse and retail premises, but no details are currently attached to the city’s website.
After the January 2018 approval, Mission Group spokesman Luke Turri said a construction start was not imminent. “It’s too soon to say in terms of what the construction schedule is,” Turri said at the time. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
In the fall of 2018, Mission Group was trying to sell a half-interest in the project for $60 million.
The project was planned to cover six acres of waterfront land immediately south of the Hotel Eldorado, bounded by Lakeshore Road, Truswell Road and Capozzi Road.
At the public hearing where the necessary zoning was granted by city council in an 8-1 vote, reference was made to 61 individual pieces of correspondence the city had received concerning the project. The letters were evenly divided between supporters and detractors.
Those who favoured Aqua’s approval said it would be an appealing and significant recreation and commercial centre with year-round waterfront living, while critics derided it as a massive over-building of the site.
The city also received two petitions with 186 names of people who were against the proposal.
Mayor Colin Basran was the only member of council to vote against the project.