GUYSBOROUGH — With an official opening date now set for the long-awaited, 36-unit Carleton Place apartment building in the center of Guysborough, “the wheels are in motion” for another nearby complex, says the project’s Antigonish-based developer.
“The property at 126 Church Street is opening for residency on June 1,” Andrew Boudreau, president of Caper Developments Ltd., told The Journal last week.
Meanwhile, he added, “We are conditionally approved by the Municipality of the District of Guysborough” for two more buildings at the municipally owned Cutler’s Brook Estates in Guysborough.
The Carleton Place development, which broke ground in 2022, is designed for people aged 55 and older. The one and two-bedroom units – 18 of which are subsidized by the province to make them more affordable – are priced at between $900 and $1,200 a month, and built with high environmental, accessibility and efficiency standards, according to Caper’s website.
Boudreau said the new project at Cutler’s Brook would be open to all ages and, if formally sanctioned by the municipality, could offer as many as 40 one-to-three-bedroom units.
The Housing Trust of Nova Scotia (HTNS) is also moving forward with its plans to construct as many as 14 new homes on three parcels of Cutler’s Brook land transferred to it by MODG for $1 a piece last October.
“We’re hoping that we might see units open there this fall,” HTNS Executive Director Angela Bishop told The Journal last week. “There’s due diligence around the transfer. But I should say that the placement, the site servicing and the construction of the [housing] modules off site is already underway. We can move very quickly.”
Last fall, Bishop told The Journal that the development will follow a mixed-income model geared initially for healthcare professionals. “A resident may be a doctor, or a young person – someone who’s just entering the workforce, as a care assistant,” she said. “Rent would be generally about 30 per cent of a person’s income up to [current] market [value]. But, let’s say the doctor makes $200,000 and the market [value] is $2,000; in that case, they wouldn’t be paying 30 per cent of their income.”
Elsewhere, in Isaac’s Harbour, Antigonish-based Water & View Estates Development CEO Steffen Mangold told The Journal last week this his plans for the former medical centre he purchased from MODG in early January remain on track.
If potential “wind and gold projects” in the area proceed as he anticipates, he said, “We plan to turn it into a boarding home” for workers.
