A recent open house introduced people to the new apartment buildings being built along Wellock Road, showing what would be brought to the community. The apartments would be a part of The Meadows development area, consisting of 7 12-plexes, consisting of a total of 84 units.
The apartments are being built by Sector 1 Construction, which would be managed by the development arm of the company, Verity Development. The entire unit would be owned by Essex Developments, which is working with Verity Development on the project.
Justin Nixon, the Co-owner of Sector 1 Construction and Verity Development, talked about the project and what the new development is targeting.
"We are also seeing, as all of you, the excitement, the growth, the opportunities that the Economic Development Board is working on. We've seen the announcements that SaskPower is bringing in. Right now, at this exact moment, is there zero vacancy? No. But in 6 months, in 8 months, before we even have the opportunity to open any doors, there will be no rentals. So we need to be slightly above, just at the right curve up, basically right at the swing when that need is there."
The buildings will be "higher-end" rentals, with Nixon stating that there isn't room for true high-end apartments in Estevan, but people would still like apartments which are nicer than what is currently on offer in the city.
The apartment building does have an obstacle in the form of a need to rezone, as the area was previously zoned for single-detached buildings. The first reading of a bylaw to change that zoning was read and passed on July 18th.
There was some worry that what the city needs right now is not multi-unit buildings, but single-family homes, with Estevan local Ward speaking on his doubts.
"Obviously, the city has an issue with the requirement for housing, and I think obviously what we're looking at now is a change of a strategy from single-family dwellings to multi-family dwellings, and I think what the people here will want to know is, you know, what is the long-term vision? They're obviously doing a change from what that provision originally was, so now is it going to fit in with what the original concept of that area is going to be, or is it going to vastly change?"
Nixon did speak a bit about some preliminary changes, such as the apartment buildings having parking in the back rather than on the street, creating less traffic but also creating a longer walk for some residents.
Nixon also explained the reason for moving away from single-family homes: With their current builds, the houses would likely be priced around $600,000, and the Estevan market has been seeing a lack of movement for houses priced above the $500,000 range.
Being Estevan-born himself, Nixon says that he wants to create something that helps out the community. That has led to some conflict with Essex, a development company based in Edmonton, Alberta.
"There's been, there's a butting of heads because you have a developer who's from out of town. You have a developer who is here. We have roots here. We care about how it gets done because we are going to be here forever. This is where we're putting our roots. (Co-owner Sandon Webber) And I, our family is here and everything."
"We're not coming in just to push something through and then high tail it out. We want something that's sustainable. We want something that where it's actually going to grow and make sense for this community because we actually care about Estevan. We care about this community. We care about its healthiness. We're not looking just to make a buck and get out."
While some in attendance called for an area of The Meadows which was already zoned for multi-unit usage instead of overtaking single-family units, Dixon pointed out that because a sewer upgrade needed to be done in the development area, they would need to wait 2-3 years before building could begin in any other area.
These areas are considered Phases 2 and 3 of The Meadows, while the apartment unit would be Phase 1.
Multiple city councillors were in attendance at the open house, who confirmed that they were looking into housing grants and other sources that would allow them to install an expanded sewer system for the development area.
For Estevan local Tyler, he came with a number of questions, which he said Nixon was able to answer well, but he still has concerns.
"He was very knowledgeable about what their exact plan is and everything like that, and I mean, it doesn't sound exactly perfect to me. They're kind of building some modular home style units and trying to get a premium price out of them, where I'm just kind of worried that maybe after they can't start filling them that they're going to have issues and start going to people that they don't plan on renting them to."
The bylaw to amend the zoning of the area will habe it's second and third reading on August 11th.