Question marks are swirling around a partially-completed condominium complex that has sat idle for months in St. Albert.
Tenor by Time Developments was to be a high-end, 62-unit residential building on Sturgeon Road but the partially completed structure has sat idle since last summer, say local residents.
Mayor Nolan Crouse has been trying to reach the developer for an update.
“I have phoned them three or four times in the last three weeks and nobody’s returning my calls,” he said.
Among Crouse’s concerns are loose soil slipping down from the site onto the trail system, garbage in the area and potential vandalism if nobody is guarding the building.
“We want it finished so we can collect the tax revenue out of it,” he added. “It’s a source of concern and we haven’t been able to get any answers.”
Crouse also said that a local investor is interested in finishing the project but hasn’t been able to make any progress.
Local realtor Amal Monzer, who has taken prospective buyers to the site, said the complex had pre-sold all but two of its units about 18 months ago. The development had no fixed completion date in place, so lenders and buyers all walked away as the real estate market proceeded to fall, she said.
The slipping market also led to a downgrading of materials and finishes so prices could be dropped, she said. The most recent update she’s received is that construction won’t proceed until 10 units are sold. But the developer isn’t able to specify a completion date, making it unlikely that buyers or bankers will be interested, Monzer said.
Prospective buyer Lori Robertson recently viewed the property but got a strange feeling from the site.
“There were workers’ hats and boots there. It looks like they had walked right off their job,” she said.
Only the showhome is complete with bare studs showing throughout the rest of the interior, she said. The units ranged from $280,000 to $585,000.
“I wouldn’t put my money into something so iffy,” Robertson said.
Time Developments CEO Eddo Cancian didn’t return the Gazette’s calls.
The site was a source of neighbourhood controversy in 2006 when Time Developments was looking to purchase the five lots, which all held single-family homes. Area residents resisted the number of units and feared the extra traffic that would result.
Council approved the rezoning in October 2006 and the building was originally slated for completion around the fall of 2008.
