Work is underway on a $55-million luxury condo project in Welland, steps away from the recreational canal.
Upper Vista, built by Evertrust Development, broke ground in October and since then – about 65 per cent of the facility’s foundation has been set, said president Ted Zhou on Wednesday.
Giving a “conservative” timeline for completion, he expects it to be ready by May 2023, although it “could be earlier,” he said.
Located at 350 Prince Charles Dr., it’s a 226-unit, five-storey, two-tower condo development, which is already sold out.
Amenities like the recreational canal and the city’s new boat rental program at Rotary Park being close by were unique features he believes are factors in the every unit being spoken for swiftly.
It’s also his company’s “brand name and reputation,” he said.
It will have a storage facility for canoes, kayaks and other non-motorized watercraft on site, and “support a healthy lifestyle,” said Zhou.
There will be a commercial unit in the new Welland development.
Zhou said the space will include a coffee shop and a small market for residents of the building to buy groceries. It will not be open to the public, he said.
The development will be south of Seaway Pointe Condominium Complex, at 330 Prince Charles Dr.
It will sit alongside the canal and the towers will be connected by a shared lobby.
Last July, council received a petition from residents of the nearby Seaway Pointe residence, asking for a traffic study on Prince Charles Drive between Ontario Road and Lincoln Street. Petitioners said the new building would add about 200 vehicles to a dangerous entrance to the shared driveway also used by Best Western Plus Rose City Suites.
Evertrust appeared before the city’s committee of adjustment last year, requesting several minor variances to the proposal.
Those requests included relief from parking requirements in both number and size. Also included was relief for balcony placement, screening for loading areas and floor area for bachelor apartments.
City staff did not object to the variances and the committee of adjustment approved them.
Grant Munday, the city’s director of planning and development services, said at the time that in his view, the proposal had gone through the public process.
He said notices were sent to each unit-holder at Seaway Pointe when the city was only required to notify the condominium corporation, and that the city went “above and beyond” what it was required to do.
Evertrust, which focuses on real estate development across Canada and North America, built a 150-unit, 10-storey condo complex, also called Upper Vista, in Niagara Falls beside Thundering Waters Golf Course.
