A A

SYDNEY, N.S. — A Sydney developer involved in the multi-million-dollar redevelopment of a four-acre site on the Sydney waterfront will seek a “land swap” with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in order to build his 47-unit apartment complex.

Marty Chernin, who heads up Harbour Royale Development Ltd., said the move is necessary to build the 80,000-square-foot residential tower next to a relocated Sydney library.

“My land is right in the middle of their (CBRM) land. In order to incorporate the library, which is down closer to the water, we have to swap land,” Chernin said. “I’d give them my square footage and (CBRM) would give me an equal square footage.”

The original plan was to have the residential building on the parcel of land Chernin currently owns on the Esplanade, assessed at $334,500. It is currently being used as a gravel parking lot.

His parcel is surrounded by seven lots owned by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, varying in size and assessed value, according to the province’s land registry.

The apartment complex and the library would be built at the same time, forming one construction site, Chernin added.

Funding for a new library hasn’t been determined yet as it would require the CBRM to seek a cost-sharing agreement with the provincial and federal governments. Early estimates pegged the cost of a new library at $28 million.

It leaves a potential start date for construction unknown as the development group moves from the conceptual to design phase.

The other aspects of the project are an 80,000-square-foot commercial mid-rise building, a possible 96-room extension to the Holiday Inn hotel, a relocated Casino Nova Scotia and a marine activity centre that could include Ambassatour’s amphibious harbour hoppers.

The municipality has an option of conveying at no less than the assessed value one or all of its properties to the development group, CBRM director of planning Malcolm Gillis said Tuesday.

“We really don’t care — if we like this development, we just want to see it happen,” he said.

There are “so many ways” a deal can be negotiated, Gillis added.

LAND SWAP

“If it requires a land swap … he gives us his property, although I don’t know why we would want it. We might even consider conveying all of our land in that vicinity to him except where the boardwalk is and (other property) we want to keep for public purposes.”

An expression of interest was issued by the CBRM last year to have the municipally owned waterfront land redeveloped, based on the findings in the 2014 Ekistics and Design report.

Harbour Royale Development Ltd. along with its partners Westmount Hotel Group, the Canderel Group, Ambassatours Gray Line, Trifos Design Consultants and CBCL Ltd. were given the greenlight to pursue its proposal by CBRM council in February.

Westmount Hotel Group has an interest in the Holiday Inn Sydney and the Canderel Group is involved with the proposed Novaporte container terminal near Sydport.

A spot on the waterfront has been reserved for the construction of a new Sydney library, which has been looking to relocate for about a decade. It would replace the 58-year-old James McConnell Memorial Library on Falmouth Street.

The manager of the Halifax Central Library, Sharon Haley-Mancini, and Charlottetown Area Development Corp. CEO Ron Waite will speak on the benefits a new library can bring to revitalizing a downtown area during Thursday’s Port Day event at the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion.

The other panelists brought in by Harbour Royale Development Ltd. are CBRM economic development manager John Phalen and Membertou First Nation Chief Terry Paul.

Jim Wooder, the project manager for Harbour Royale Development Ltd., said the project has been “moving ahead on all fronts” and is now expected to move to the detailed design of the buildings that will be fully costed.

There are rough cost estimates now but it’s too early in the process to release those details, he said.

“There are some big-ticket items there that need to be defined to make sure your cost estimates are robust. And in the case of CBRM, they inherit a (library) project that they (must) understand what the operating costs and implications are … (and) impacts on existing infrastructure.

“If you’re building a large-scale development, you need to do your homework and that’s the phase that we’re now into.”

chris.shannon@cbpost.com

Twitter: @cbpost_chris

Related coverage:

Multi-faceted downtown Sydney development proposal under review