City considers Towers Road project

Developer proposing to add 88 units to city’s housing stock, some of them affordable

A developer is proposing to construct a building on the Towers Road in Charlottetown that would house 88 units.

City council recently hosted a public meeting in which it was considering a request to amend an existing development concept plan in the comprehensive development area from two buildings with 88 units in total to one building with 88 units.

The proposed development would be located on the same side of the road as the current seniors housing project in behind the Charlottetown Mall.

The meeting was sparsely attended, and questions centered on issues such as parking and parking space.

The current development agreement is to build two separate buildings on the property consisting of 88 units and a combination of underground and surface parking.

Coun. Greg Rivard, chairman of the planning and heritage committees, said when the applicant started doing the footwork to get the project going a water easement was discovered running through the property which ran underneath one of the proposed buildings.

That meant the applicant had to redesign the building and the footprint as a workaround, but because there is a development agreement, council has to give the go-ahead.

So, the new proposed plan is to connect the buildings in an Lshaped form on the back corner of the property. The density will remain at 88 units.

And, of those 88 units, 32 per cent will be affordable housing while the remainder will be market units.

In order to maintain the density, the developer needed to add another floor as the total footprint of the building had to be smaller, from about 62 feet to 50 feet. The parking will be surface parking.

The public meeting wrapped up in about 15 minutes.

“I do think the new plan looks good,’’ Rivard said. “The possibility of having 88 additional units added to the housing stock, and 32 per cent of them being affordable is welcome news. (And), the proposed site is close to the walking trail, amenities, transit and UPEI.’’

Council will have to approve this request at a future public meeting.