9th Street condos nearly complete
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/04/2010 (5760 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The transformation of Brandon’s old Manitoba Government Telephones building in the city’s downtown into a multi-storey condominium development has finally turned from dream to reality.
Over the past number of months, construction of 11 condo units within the 1913 building at 19 Ninth St. has quietly been headed up by Winnipeg-based Sun Mortgage Corp. and is "near completion," a company official has confirmed.
"We’re really close. We were shooting for the end of April, so we’re pretty much on schedule," Sun Mortgage official Andre van der Zalm said. "We’re very optimistic about this project. It’s a local project … local realtors, local developers."
When completed, the condo units will be offered up at market value, initially for lease and then possibly for purchase, van der Zalm said.
The historic building’s future has been in a state of limbo for a number of months after a failed construction venture by former Brandon developer Mark Fawcett, dubbed Paragon Lofts.
Fawcett purchased the former office building in 2005 with a plan to convert its top three floors into "raw," loft-style condo units — a concept where suites would have the basic renovations, but the homeowner would choose their own bathroom fixtures, kitchen cabinets, paint and flooring.
Running up against a lack of buyer interest in the idea, Fawcett decided to invest additional money to try to finish the suites, resulting in cash flow problems. The Paragon Lofts project ultimately stalled and Sun Mortgage foreclosed on the building in early 2009.
Brandon-based Ben Wiebe Construction was the company contracted by Fawcett to gut the building and is also undertaking the renovation work on the latest incarnation of the condo project, the Sun has learned.
Ben Wiebe Construction owns the main floor of the building, which formerly housed a home decor business and a designer clothing store.
However, that space is not part of the current construction project, the company’s general manager, Rod Wiebe, confirmed yesterday.
The five suites on the third floor are now done and "ready for showing", Wiebe said, while completion of the second floor’s six suites is still a few weeks away.
Meanwhile, the fourth floor of the building — which housed the former Paragon Lofts’ showcase suite — is owned by a separate party and is not part of the current development.
The city’s downtown councillor, Vince Barletta, says he’s pleased to hear something is finally moving forward in the building.
"A big factor in the future success of downtown Brandon is going to be the resident population and that’s going to take into account all types of housing across the market spectrum," Barletta (Rosser) said. "Certainly, market-drive condominium housing is a big part of that."
Sun Mortgage would not confirm to the Sun exactly when the units will be on the market.