[Northend Guy]

From the Herald website:

Six-building development in the works for Bedford West
June 11, 2012 - 7:21pm By REMO ZACCAGNA Business Reporter

A new proposal for a multimillion-dollar development would add hundreds of units to Bedford West.

West Bedford Holdings Ltd., a partnership between Clayton Developments Ltd. and Cresco, is seeking a development agreement with the municipality to build six multiple-unit apartment buildings on Innovation Drive.

The 8.3-hectare site, on the Bedford West Business Campus, is located near Hammonds Plains Road and Highway 102 and is bookended by the BMO Centre and the new Bedford high school scheduled to open in September 2013.

“The attraction of the BMO Centre, an employment node in the immediate area, proximity to Halifax, proximity to the airport — those are all factors that are contributing to that becoming a successful location,” said Mike Hanusiak, general manager of Clayton Developments, in a telephone interview Monday.

“We’ve had very good success with Stonington Park, we’ve seen over 200 homes constructed in the last three years, so that (area) is very popular.”

The proposal calls for five five-storey apartment buildings and another five-storey, mixed-use building with 6,500 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. A total of 368 units, including five in the commercial area, would make up the six buildings.

It was during the planning process to complete the final phase of Innovation Drive, work on which will begin in the near future, that the idea for the development really took hold, Hanusiak said. The completed road will run through the proposed development.

“We looked at that area and felt that it was more appropriately designed for higher-density residential than service commercial or retail,” Hanusiak said, noting that the request will not affect the community retail component along nearby Gary Martin Drive.

Construction could begin as early as next year, once Innovation Drive is completed, with the project being done in phases, he said.

Detailed architectural plans for the buildings have not been drawn up but may include features like lintels, columns, porticos, ornamental lighting and metal or composite balcony rails.

“When we sit down with a builder, then we will work to determine the specific look of the building, but it will have a combination of brick or stone. These are meant to be high-quality designs.”

A development agreement is already in place for a multiple-unit apartment building on an area adjacent to the business campus, but the company is requesting to move that building from its current location on a proposed future road to a nearby community collector road that feeds into Gary Martin Drive.

In the area where the apartment building was originally planned, the company is looking to build 34 single-family dwellings.

“The single-family dwellings on 34-foot-wide lots have done exceptionally well, so that change is driven by market demand,” Hanusiak said.

Work on those homes may begin as early as next year.

A public information meeting on the entire proposal will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. at the BMO Centre multipurpose room, 61 Gary Martin Dr.

(rzaccagna@herald.ca)