7-storey Charlottetown waterfront development to have hotel rooms, apartments and condos

A development on Charlottetown's waterfront is being built for those who want to buy, rent or just stay for the night.

The new building will sit on the currently empty lot between Founders' Food Hall and Market and the condominium on the water.

The building is expected to be seven storeys, and offer 108 units. Of those, 48 will be micro-unit apartments.

Each micro-unit will be about 300 square feet, equipped with a full kitchen. The micro-units are intended to be long-term, year-round rentals. 

The building will also have 48 hotel rooms. They will be suite-style rooms to be rented nightly in the summer with longer-term options the rest of the year. 

On the top two floors there will be 12 condos for sale. The ground level will be home to social spaces, the hotel lobby and commercial tenants.

"I think it's a great location for it," said Aaron Stavert, the principal architect at Open Practice Collaborative Architecture, the company designing the building. 

"I think it builds on development that we've seen federal, provincial and municipal investments — starting with Confederation Landing back in 1995, it was a green space. The port has invested significant money in their terminal, additional docking space with the most recent development here at Founders' Hall."

'Reasonably priced' rentals

Charlottetown's vacancy rate has been hovering around zero percent. That's something Stavert thinks the building could help with. 

"I think that increasing residential density in the downtown in the waterfront zone is a key place for it. It's close to ... post-secondary institutions, active transportation and public transportation routes," he said. 

"It's not going to be for everybody, but it does offer the ability for small-scale footprints. Rents will be reasonably priced and it … opens it up possibly to a younger generation who want to live downtown."

One of the developers, Paul Jenkins with Hauz Inc., didn't want to estimate a price for the rentals until all the construction costs are in, but said the company will try to keep the cost as low as possible. 

There will be 63 parking spaces, some above and some underground. The developer also has 20 spaces off-site to help accommodate hotel parking.

The site is currently being prepared for construction, and work is set to start in the spring, with the hope of opening by summer 2021. 

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