Nunastar pitches four-storey building on White Row lot

By next summer, the parking lot that lies in front of the White Row housing complex across from Arctic Ventures will take on a new identity, as Nunastar’s “Creekside Village” begins to take form.

Nunastar Properties Inc. plans to build an $8-million, four-storey apartment block on this site dubbed “Tunganaq House.”

The new building on Ring Road will be similar in size to Noble House or Capital Suites in the centre of Iqaluit. There will be about 400 units in its 1,000 square metres of living space, ranging from studios to three- and four-bedroom apartments. Rents will range from $1,400 to $2,600 a month and up.

“It’s going to have a wide mix,” said Steve Cook, manager of Nunastar’s residential properties. “The development is quite varied.”

Next week, Nunastar is putting up a sign that invites prospective tenants to book space now.

Although Nunastar is soliciting client interest, it doesn’t mean the new building will be built. Cook said the development could have gone ahead this year, but Nunastar wants to make sure the new apartments have a stock of guaranteed occupants.

“You can’t invest seven to eight million dollars without interest. There are lots of folks who want to rent, but you need the major leases,” Cook said. “That’s our major thrust. You need some significant interest from the key players in order to proceed.”

These include governments and businesses that want blocks of staff-housing. Corporate clients can sign on right away, but governments must go to public tender for their housing needs.

Based on the interest received, Nunastar will make a decision by April on whether to move on the development. However, Nunastar is already applying for the development permits required by the City of Iqaluit.

Cook said Tunganaq House’s design and location complies with all municipal requirements, and he does not expect any hurdles to obtaining necessary permits.

This means construction could start next summer, with completion scheduled for March 2005.

Cook said residents of White Row wouldn’t be unduly inconvenienced by the work in their front yard.

“Some are going to lose their views,” Cook admitted.

But he said it’s not financially feasible to build a smaller, two-storey block. That’s because a new building with fewer units couldn’t generate enough revenue to keep the rents affordable.

If the development moves ahead, Arctic Ventures will also see its informal overflow parking lot disappear.

The new building will stand the required eight metres (25 feet) from the road, which means its 20 parking spaces will be located on the side, toward the playground. These will be reserved for tenants, unless some other arrangement is struck, Cook said.

The playground next to the new building would remain – at least in this phase of redevelopment.

Nunastar plans to continue developing the space now occupied by their White Row housing.

There are already plans, depicted in an artists’ drawing of the new Creekside Village, to build another unit where the playground now stands and yet another building behind the first new block.

But Cook said no one should be surprised that the White Row housing area is up for redevelopment.

“It’s logical to assume that, when buildings are 34 years old, at some point it makes sense to plan for redeveloping,” Cook said.

Residents affected by the second phase – that is, the tenants of some 10 units that lie behind the proposed Tunganaq House – would be offered space in the second new building. The increase in rents would not hit them hard, Cook said, since all but one tenant receives subsidized housing.

“We’re not going to be abandoning our own clients,” Cook said. “But, at present we don’t know we are going to build.”

Cook said during Phase II of the development, the playground next to the first block would also be relocated.

White Row residents will have a chance to voice their concerns, Cook said, as community consultations will be a part of the development process.