Callander’s Municipal Council is taking action on The Waterfront Place, a proposed development on municipally owned land near the dock on Lansdowne Street. Project managers have been hired, an ad-hoc committee will be struck, and an Environmental Assessment will be conducted on the site.
Waterfront Place is the working title of a proposed development project. The municipality owns 3.4 acres on Lansdowne Stret West, with 300 feet of water frontage on Callander Bay. The goal is to entice a developer to build on the site, and ideally, that project would include space for a new library as well.
See: The future of Callander’s ‘Waterfront Place’ is wide open
Essentially, the municipality wants to hear ideas from developers, to see what might be feasible given the site. The process is in the early stages, and certainly, nothing is set in stone as far as what might develop on those empty acres, but the town is moving ahead with preparations to help attract developer’s interest.
These preparations “will help us to envision what can go there, and to see what is financially feasible for the municipality and a developer to develop that parcel of land,” said Mayor Robb Noon.
Council has appointed Llahrgon Developments Ltd. and Pronor Developments Ltd. as project mangers to oversee the development of the site. It has authorized up to $40,000 for these services. A site analysis will be prepared “to determine the best use and layout of the site,” municipal staff explained.
A site plan will be included as well as some preliminary architectural renderings to give potential developers an idea of what the parcel of land could handle. The project managers will also draft a request for tenders for a design for the property.
This will cross council’s desk for approval before the tender is issued.
The property at Lansdowne (it’s on the right as you’re heading toward the dock) was purchased in 2012. The following year, council deemed the site would be a fine place to build a new library. That has yet to happen, but developing the property has been identified “as a key priority in 2023,” municipal staff noted.
Last year, the municipality issued a request for letter of interests to receive some help with the pre-production of the development. Five parties responded, two which were Llahrgon Developments Ltd. and Pronor Developments Ltd..
“They have the necessary experience to assist the Municipality in moving this project forward, in the most economical way possible, keeping in mind Council’s vision for the site,” staff noted.
Council is moving forward with the procurement of an environmental firm to complete an assessment of the property. Staff estimate this will cost around $6,500.
As for the new committee, an Ad-Hoc Building Committee will be formed, consisting of at least two members of council, one member of the library board, the Senior Municipal Director, the Manager of Operations, and the Planning Administrator.
This committee will report to council.
“The project has been at a standstill for many years,” staff reminded council, “and given Council’s previous direction, it is time to move forward with the development of this property.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
