Atikokan primed for growth: residential developers slow to react to resource opportunities.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: DESIGN-BUILD

A showcase event designed to spotlight development opportunities in Atikokan has produced one solid lead.

A relatively new entity, Wasaya-Dowland Contracting, has stepped forward to talk with town officials from the northwestern Ontario community of 3,300 to discuss ways to solve a housing crunch.

Wasaya-Dowland, led by well-known Thunder Bay developers Don Wing and Ray Williamson, are putting forward a proposal to build an apartment building but also help the town in marketing some of its empty lots.

"We've had discussions with others (developers), but nobody is as definite as Don Wing and Ray Williamson," said Atikokan Mayor Dennis Brown.

Wasaya-Dowland is a regional partnership between Thunder Bay's Wasaya Group and Dowland, a Northwest Territories-headquartered contractor. The company builds a wide range of industrial and community-related infrastructure such as for mining, transmission corridors, hospitals, recreation centres and schools.

Brown said the company is focussed on servicing First Nation communities, but it has the expertise and access to specialty steel products to replace Atikokan's aging arena.

"They'll be sending us a proposal on what they're prepared to do for the town and help us promote Atikokan."

With the collapse of the forestry industry in the 2000s, Atikokan has studied ways to make itself attractive to outside investors. A gold deposit on the outskirts of town has presented a solution.

Osisko Mining has an environmental assessment and feasibility study underway at its 10-million-ounce Hammond Reef mine, scheduled to start production in 2016.

Along with the mine, there are four other major industrial developments coming to the area that could create 1,500 to 1,700 construction jobs over the next five to seven years. As many as 1,000 permanent jobs in mining, forestry and the industrial supply sector could follow

The town commissioned an accommodations study that inventoried 70 lots as immediately available for development. But it's not enough for the wave of workers expected to filter into town.

Atikokan badly needs seniors' housing, assisted living facilities and condos.

"It's pretty difficult to get an apartment in Atikokan, because they're filled up," said Brown.

If more multi-residential housing were available for seniors, it would free up more houses for newcomers.

Last summer, the municipality took its message to Thunder Bay to showcase the development opportunities at an investors presentation to draw...