Development of the Bridgewater project on the lakeshore seems to be moving too slowly.

 

 

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON.  May 28, 2013.  It’s never wise to neglect what the old timers think.  Yesterday afternoon Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor told his colleagues he didn’t think the Bridgewater project would see the light of day, which came as more than a surprise to Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward – the project is in her ward. 

That patch of brown earth in the centre off the Brant Street pier is to be the location for a 22 storey condo, a seven storey condo and an eight storey Delta Hotel.  Some think it is having problems.

The massive project, the biggest we have going except for the hospital re-build,  was supposed to have shovels in the ground by now – but the paper work isn’t getting done quite as quickly as it needs to be if the Delta Hotel is to be open for the Pan Am Games in 2015.

Can the project, which is comprised of a 22 storey condominium, a seven storey condominium and an eight story hotel get done in time for the games sounded like a reasonable question.

Three structure project has been the “in the works” since 1985 when developers were given the right to build a 22 storey plus building on the property where the Riviera Waterfront Motel used to exist.

It can, said a senior city hall official who has enough experience  to know if it’s possible, but there are some senior people at Mayrose Tyco, the owners of the property,  who have to step aside and let the builder get on with the job.

Meed Ward said she knew that the Sales trailer was about to be set up real soon, once the Waterfront Hotel people worked out their squabbles with the project builders.  A Sales trailer is the expression of an intention – it isn’t a sign that something real is going to happen.

The Bridgewater project is the last this city will see built as close to the edge of the lake as this one.  Conservation Halton changed the rules and requires a bigger set back – and in the process sucking out the value of many of the properties along the southern side of Old Lakeshore road.  Existing structures can stay but no one will ever be able to build as close to the water’s edge in the future.

The city is in the process of hiring consultants to guide them through an exercise of figuring out what’s possible and what is not possible with what many once saw as the most valuable land in the city.

There are property owners on both the north and south sides of Old Lakeshore who are considering their options and wondering if there is a willing buyer out there – and there are.  Keep an eye on that part of the city – someone wants to do great things down there – but it might be at your expense.  The Riviera Motel is gone but something is going to get built down there.

City Hall  wants the public to have access to the lake and now needs to figure out to make that happen.  Consultants will be hired to develop some ideas. 

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