SkyCity condos will happen downtown, developers promise

Two years after it was first announced, construction on SkyCity condos hasn't started yet, but the developers insist it willbe the "biggest free-standing building between Toronto and Calgary."

The "icing on the cake" for this condo development, is news the same developerbought the St. Regis Hotel to turn it into a parkade and retail and commercial space, said Fortress Real Developments senior project manager Hal Kersey, adding the condos and new St. Regis space will be connected with a skywalk.

• CentreVenture sells St. Regis Hotel, plans for parkade and retail

CentreVenturesold the St. Regis Hotel and adjacent parking lot to Fortressfor $4 million with the promise to build a 625-space parkadeandretail andcommercial component.

CentreVenture'ssale of the St.Regisproperty is subject toa development agreement with Fortress that expires in April 2017. Construction must begin on the parking structure before then or the company forfeits the land back toCentreVenture.

SkyCity 'interrupted'

The SkyCity condo project was originally announced in the spring of 2013but Fortress hit a snag on the project when it lost its partner in the joint venture, MadyDevelopments.

Ontario-basedMady is currently in bankruptcy protection.

Kersey says "the schedule got put off because of a change of ownership,that interruption, if you will, put a slight delay in the project."

Fortress, Kersey says, isnow the sole owner of the land designated for the condo projectonnorthwest corner of Graham Avenue and Garry Streetacross from the new police headquartersand Winnipeggerscan expect to see a million-dollar sales office openingnearbyin September.

"We are moving forward, all guns blazing, 100 per cent, 90miles an hour, as fast as we possibly can." Kersey says.

Fortress has not sold a single unit in the tower andthe sales launch won't begin until the fall. In the meantime, Kersey says the company istaking names and getting its final plans in order.

That will be a make-or-break time for the development. Kersey says shovels in the grounddepends on sales and "the banks dictate when we can go to construction." But the project manager says they are very confident.

Kersey says "the vertical village"tower is still projected to have a grocery store on the first level. He says a deal with a major grocery chain fell apart last year when the company pulled out, but he says Fortress has issued an expression of interest to other chains to fill the space.

'Confident we can achieve dates'

Kersey says he understands thereare naysayers, but he's looking forward to telling them "Itold you so."

"I know the public is always skeptical whenthese big megaprojects come forward 'Will they really happen?' I can tell you Fortress has been spending, literally, millions in getting the project to the stage where it is at now."

Kersey is equally confident about the St. RegisHotel project, despite the development agreement with CentreVenture that demands construction starts before April 2017.

"We are very confident we can achieve those dates." Kersey says. The company has done parking studies and he says the opening of the new police headquarters will create a demand for new parking spaces.

Kersey saysideally and optimistically, construction on the parkade will begin in a year, but adds "everything in this world is market driven."