Bonavista Living: Company outlines plans for 30 vacant properties

People packed into a public meeting in Bonavista Wednesday night to hear about big plans for new development in their community.

A home-grown company Bonavista Living has bought up about 30 vacant buildings in the town.

Bonavista native John Norman,one of the company's founders,told residents they have a variety of plans for the properties they've acquired.

"We're going to repurpose them, for all sorts of things. A lot of the residential properties will be homes for rent, affordable housing units, some of them will be very high-end vacation homes," Norman said.

Mayor welcomes plan details

Some people in Bonavista were worried about Bonavista Living's plans for the property,and were eager to hear their plans.

Bonavista Mayor Betty Fitzgerald says it's a relief to finally know more details.

"By coming here and listening to what we heard here tonight, now we know what's happening," she said.

Norman said he's excited about the development, and it will be controlled at the grass roots level.

"It's a dream-come-true, where you have the funds available, the resources available to do all this type of work. Yet someone, myself, in the community, that has been in the community for a very long time, has control over what's happening." Norman said.

'Keepin' on and trucking'

Elizabeth Zemdegs runs a few businesses in Bonavista and she's happy to see more investment.

"The more prosperous we are, and the more people that can come here and grow and actually live here, Bonavista will just stay keepin' on and trucking." Zemdegs said.

Bonavista Living has already spent about 1.4 million dollars on its plans,all of it through private investment.

It hopes to have the first properties ready next year.