Nunastar gets Iqaluit's old RCMP lot in settlement, plans for Astro Hill development

Nunastar Properties Inc. is the new owner of Iqaluit's old RCMP lot after an out-of-court settlement was reached with the city of Iqaluit.

The property developer filed for judicial review of the city's 2017 decision to award the lot to another developer, but at Tuesday's council meeting, the city announced the dispute was settled out of court.

Nunastar has withdrawn civil suits itfiled with the Nunavut Court of Justice, Iqaluit's Mayor Madeleine Redfern said.

• Nunavut developer asks for judicial review of Iqaluit's allocation of RCMP lot

"It's good news for the city, we've got the funding from the sale in our bank account. It's good news for Nunastar, who's going to be proceeding with the development, so it's a win, win, win for the community," said Redfern.

Nunastar owns most of the property on Astro Hill, including the Frobisher Inn and the six and eight-storey apartment buildings.

Development plans

Nunastar acquired the old CBC buildinglocated on Astro Hill near the RCMP buildingin 2016, with big plans in mind.

• Nunastar presents big plans for former CBC Astro Hill site

It will unveil details of thoseplans when it submits development permits to the city in mid-January.

For now, Ed Romanowski, Nunastar's president and chief operating officer, said plans have shifted slightly from what it showed the city in 2016.

The old CBCbuilding will become a two-storey building named Astro Hill Place, with the first floor designated to retail and the second to office space.

The Astro Theatre will get an outdoor entrance as part of the area's redevelopment plan, and the RCMP lot will be cleaned up, with fuel tanks and out-buildings (sheds) removed.

Theapartments previously planned for the old CBC buildingwill instead appear directly across from Arctic Ventures, beside the new CBC building along Queen Elizabeth Way.The planned four-storey building will be called Astro Hill Gate and have a floor of retail or office space topped with 32 apartments 22 one-bedroom, and 10 bachelor units.

Romanowskisaid that both AstroHill Place and AstroHill Gate are being developed on $10 million budgets. Hesays that if everything goes as planned, the Astro Hill Place development will be finished by the end of 2019, and the apartments across from Arctic Ventureswill be done by early 2020.

If the development permits are approved by the city, he says he expects construction to start in the spring.