Mission Road makeover a distant possibility

Any Cinderella makeover for Mission Road is likely years away, no matter how many conditions council places on redevelopment for a long-neglected stretch of that inner-city artery.

It’s now a collection of postwar duplexes and a large vacant lot.

Landowners have plans for townhouses and apartments, but community members and city-funded consultants have other ideas.

Their plan is for small cafes and stores, tree-lined sidewalks and laneway housing. It would cost up to $25.6 million for upgrades to the streetscape and other infrastructure.

On Monday, many aldermen were wary of embracing the bold ideas for turning Mission Road into a Main Street.

“What kind of development can we afford?” Ald. Gord Lowe asked.

The landowners had warned that a dramatic conversion might not be viable economically — even though retail consultants for the city project said Mission Road had great potential.

However, Steve Sparks, spokesman for the landowners group, said he had no set timeline to develop if the rezoning application for four-storey residential buildings went through. A project would likely be two years or more away, he said.

A public hearing at city council on the two competing visions will continue today.

But while neighbouring community leaders praised the consultation they participated in, they decried the consultants’ plans for five-storey buildings on Mission Road.