Riverwalk redevelopment: Condo suites enhancing Sault's downtown.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: DESIGN-BUILD By LINDSAY KELLY lindsay@nob.on.ca

TD outique-style condominium liv-ing in Sault Ste. Marie. That's how the city's newest residential development is being marketed to potential buyers, and it's already getting plenty of attention.

Riverwalk Condominiums, a project of Toronto-based company TVM Group, is a 40-unit development going into the former Plummer Hospital along the banks of the St. Mary's River. Designed by MGP Architects of Sault Ste. Marie, the company that produced the iconic Roberta Bondar Pavilion, the project costs will come in around $10 million to $12 million.

In April, city council grantea TVM an exemption to subdivision planning requirements in the Municipal Act, freeing the company to begin marketing the project.

Selling for $224,900 to $389,900, the suites will feature stainless steel appliances, central air. 10-foot ceilings, gas-fired furnaces and quartz countertops, and amenities include indoor parking, an exercise room and a movie-screening room.

Even though the project is still in the demolition phase, Amit Sofer. TVM's lead developer, said the response has been extremely positive.

"It's something that we created based upon our review of what exists in the Sault and what we think is missing in the Sault," he said. "The response has just been so overwhelming. I think we may have hit the nail on the head with what the market needs and wants."

The company has additionally ceded some land to the city to enhance its public Hub Trail, which snakes through the TVM property. It will allow for additional parkland and widen the trail by about six metres, Sofer said.

The TVM venture fits in well with the other public and private development activity taking place, said Don McConnell, the city's planning director. Ongoing and planned projects include extensive road reconstruction, the opening of the Er-matinger Clergue heritage site, the redevelopment of the International Bridge, revitalization of the former St. Marys Paper mill site, and the opening of a business incubation centre in the downtown.

"It really is an exciting time when you look and see how much stuff is underway in the downtown right now and how much stuff we're planning for, and it really is a real boost to the downtown," McConnell said. "I think people are really happy to see it."

Over the last few years, the city has put a particular emphasis on generating more residential development in an effort to revitalize its downtown and waterfront areas and enhance the neighbourhood.

A condominium complex...