Developer hopeful of condo interest

After hosting an open house yesterday to answer people’s questions about the proposed La Verendrye Parkway Village condominium project, Thunder Bay developer Robert Zanette now will have to wait and see if enough of them want to buy units in the next few weeks before taking the next step.
Zanette hopes to see at least 20 units pre-sold prior to June 15, he said yesterday during the open house at the Civic Centre, which drew a modest but steady stream of people curious about the proposed building.

He explained that as with previous projects he’s done, after deciding to go ahead with a new condo, he likes to have a 90-day window to get architects, engineers, and other key players in line before applying for a building permit.
“To keep it simple and stay on the timetable we’re on, let’s just say, by June 1 or June 15, we get the required sales in line,” Zanette noted. “We would then order up the drawings and be seeking a permit near the end of August or September.
“Generally, we allow 10 months, maybe 11 months if we have harsh winter conditions, so doing the math, you’re probably looking at occupancy around the end of August or September next year.
“It’s about a 10-11 month turnaround.”
If the condo proceeds, the development will be built on a riverfront lot located at Front Street and Mosher Avenue, to the east of the current Riverwalk Condominiums.
Schematics for four different suite designs were available for viewing at yesterday’s open house, showing two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from about 939 sq. ft. to 1,428 sq. ft.
Units have been costed at $189,900-$259,900.
A drawing of what the outside of the condominium would look like showed a large 23-unit building with a parking lot located to the west of it.
Zanette was kept busy during the open house answering questions about the building as a whole, unit sizes and finishes, unit fees, condo fees, and taxes.
He said he’s willing to work with buyers to build the unit they want, but there are some limits, of course.
“There’s sort of three ‘do nots.’ Number one is when you look at a unit, let’s take a three-bedroom, 1,400 sq. ft. unit, the [load] bearing walls you can’t touch.
“The plumbing is all stacked and lines up one on top of the other, so you can’t touch that,” he added. “And the third item is any code-related issues.
“The example we use is somebody wanted a fireplace in a bedroom. Well, the gas code doesn’t allow fireplaces in bedrooms or that type of thing,” Zanette said.
“So, but for those three ‘do nots,’ we’ve pretty much done it all—from flooring and cabinets, people can pretty much select anything. We simply send them off to our builder and they work it out with the builder, and if there’s an up charge, they agree to it before any change is made, and away they go.
“We try to run a bit of a production line if we can and keep it simple, but it just doesn’t happen that way,” he stressed.
“It’s a custom home and we recognize that and work with the buyers.”
Those wanting more information about the new condo are encouraged to contact Re/Max broker Mario Tegola at 1-800-508-9976.