Whole new neighbourhood proposed for Rothesay, with 1,277 housing units

Ali Kamkar moved to New Brunswick six years ago to have a more relaxing life and focus on raising kids after leading a  busy life running manufacturing and property development businesses in the Middle East.

He and his wife settled in Rothesay and began to put down roots, with his daughter enrolling at Rothesay Netherwood School. Another daughter was born a year after they arrived.

Kamkar soon became restless because of his entrepreneurial nature.

"Business is in my blood," he said. "After six months, I needed to go back to work. I start to look around for opportunities. I thought, how can I do something positive for our community? How can I bring something that the community needs?"

With a business partner from B.C., he opened a self-storage operation in Millidgeville with 440 units and began looking around for housing development opportunities.

In Rothesay, he saw the need for a better mix of housing and has submitted a proposal for a mixed-use development that would add nearly 1,277 units over a 20-year period in a commercial and residential area near the highway.

The town now has about 12,000 residents, so the development could provide a significant boost to the population and housing availability over time. 

Kamkar said the community has mainly single-family homes, which is great for young families but not for seniors or younger people. 

"Many people born here, raised here, they love to be here, but they are older," he said. "They want to move somewhere smaller. They want to stay close to friends and family, but they don't want to take care of the grass and shovel the snow. They want to be in the community, but there is nothing available in the community.

"There are also young people that want to have their own place but not much is available or affordable."

'Times are changing in the region'

Mayor Nancy Grant said Kamkar's proposal reflects the changing character of the community.

"Rothesay has traditionally been a community of single-family homes, but times are changing in the region," Grant said. "We're trying to increase the population. There's a housing shortage, and there's a demand for various types of other types of housing."

The proposed development by Landmark 661 Ltd. would include a mix of commercial businesses, apartment buildings, townhouses and single-family homes.

It would happen in five phases, beginning with six, four-storey apartment buildings with 427 residential units and commercial businesses on the ground floors.

Grant is impressed that the development is being designed to fit into the existing neighbourhood with the single-family homes on the part of the 22.8-hectare site adjacent to existing single-family homes along Wedgewood Drive.

The townhouse units and 16 four-storey apartment buildings, seven of which would have ground-floor commercial spaces, would face the Campbell Drive-Millennium Drive area overlooking a Kent Building Supplies store and the Atlantic Superstore mall area.

"The whole thing is beautifully designed," Grant said. "The apartment buildings are organized into four quadrants. Each has four apartment buildings and each is organized around a central courtyard and green space.

"It will have a lighted landscaped main street with shops and restaurants … this will provide what planners like to call the complete neighborhood or the complete community. It's mixed-use. It's walkable, family-oriented, with a variety of housing, courtyards, trail system and green space incorporated."

'We need more walkable streets in Rothesay'

Kamkar said the community needs more neighbourhoods like this.

"We don't just design homes. Our design team wants to make a community — a village-style place where people have everything they want," Kamkar said.

"We need more walkable streets in Rothesay like there are in places like uptown Saint John, with a coffee shop, restaurant, bar and hair salon."

The large wooded plot of land doesn't need to be rezoned, but council will need to vote on whether to approve a development agreement. 

The next council meeting is Aug. 11.