A new apartment building under construction in Hay River is expected to be ready for occupancy by the fall of 2022.
Ground was broken on the project in the fall of last year.
Laura Ferguson, the property manager with Rowes.ca Realty, said the building is being constructed in response to the shortage of housing in Hay River.
“We did follow through with a needs assessment and a market assessment, and we found that there was need within the town,” she said. “So that was kind of the basis when the project started. They had a look at whether or not it was something that would benefit the town, and it certainly does. There is a lack of accessible housing.”
The new structure on Capital Drive will be a four-storey building.
“There’s going to be 44 units in there, and it’s actually got underground parking, which is a nice feature that I think is new to Hay River,” Ferguson said. “And we’ve got one and two-bedroom options, and there are actually six different floor layouts to choose from. There’s a little bit of choice there for folks, which is nice.”
All the apartments will feature a balcony and en-suite laundry, and half of the units will have a river view.
Renting of the apartments has not yet started.
“We’re collecting names of folks who have shown interest at the moment,” said Ferguson. “We’re keeping that on file just so that we can touch base with those folks when we have more of our policies and procedures in place. So we’re not to the point yet where we actually have people putting deposits and holding their suite. We’re still very much in the planning stages for that.”
She said the interest so far has been encouraging.
“The interest we’ve got now is really people who have just seen the hole in the ground and are trying to plan a little bit down the road,” she said.
No name has yet been chosen for the building.
Recently, the construction has been more noticeable in the downtown with the occasional sound of pilings being driven into the ground.
That piling will continue into the first week of May.
“We understand this is an inconvenience and (a) disruptive process, and we appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding, especially our neighbours in the immediate vicinity,” the project team said in a written statement. “Our team has modified its processes to reduce the impact to our neighbours by modifying hours of operating, as well as using a less disruptive method of piling.”
Ferguson said the building will triple the inventory of units that Rowes.ca Realty has in Hay River.
Currently, its largest residential building in the community is a five-unit multiplex.