Local developer Larry Andrews has taken over the stalled Tenor condominium project on Sturgeon Road and plans to complete it by next spring.
Andrews, whose corporate holdings include Landrex Developments Inc., has formed a new company — Tenor Real Estate Projects (St. Albert) Inc. — which has purchased the Tenor project. The new ownership took effect Sept. 1 and on Tuesday, workers and equipment moved in to begin transforming the idle building.
“He’s committed to making this project look and feel exactly as it was intended,” said project manager Lorraine Bodnarek, speaking on Andrews’ behalf.
Construction on the 65-unit project by Time Developments began in the fall of 2006 then went idle in the summer of 2009 after falling into financial trouble. Creditor Canadian Western Bank forced the project into receivership in February and Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench appointed Deloitte & Touche as receiver.
The ownership transfer became final in late August.
The new owners intend to change the colour of the exterior siding and replace the artificial stone with real stone, Bodnarek said.
“When they started to get into trouble financially, they started to replace some of the materials with very undesirable materials so we’re going back to the original design and the original intent,” Bodnarek said. “It was like a plastic stone on the front of the building. We’re ripping all that off and we’re going to put proper stone on it.”
The company will begin marketing units in October but doesn’t yet know what price range they’ll be, Bodnarek said.
“They will remain very high-end condos. They’re not going to be middle of the road residences,” she said.
Bodnarek isn’t sure what options are available for buyers who’ve already signed contracts and provided deposits. Confidentiality rules have prevented her from acquiring a list of purchasers, so she’s putting out the word for people to contact her by email at [email protected].
“We’ll work with anybody and everybody who put a deposit in,” she said.
St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse said he was happy to see the project moving forward, especially in the hands of a local developer with a solid track record.
“It was starting to turn into a little bit of an eyesore,” Crouse said. “I couldn’t be happier the way this has all fallen into place.”
Area resident Joyce Seiersen, who lives across the street from the Tenor, was glad on two fronts — the project will be finished and the exterior colours will be changed.
“That makes sense,” she said, “this looks like somebody threw odd colours at it and left it.”
The decision to change the colour was a tough one because of the added cost but the new owners felt it was necessary, Bodnarek said.
“We did get quite a bit of feedback from the general public and even from our own team that the colours weren’t overly attractive,” she said.
Another change will see a switch from metal rails to glass on the balconies, she said.
The interior layout will remain as is since steel studs are already in place but buyers will be able to select finishes, she said.
The company has retained the original architect Brinsmead Kennedy to ensure the overall vision isn’t compromised and Delnor Construction Ltd. to act as the general contractor, she said.
