Timeline to Build Seniors Home

More than two years after it was first announced, the province is moving closer to building 30 senior housing units on Beach Grove Road. The three-storey building will be constructed on a subdivided parcel of crown land nestled between the shore of the North River and the Central Forest District Office at 170 Beach Grove Road.

It will feature 26 one-bedroom units and 4 two-bedroom units – six units will be barrier-free. Although the building will be on waterfront property, residents will need to twist their necks to catch a view; the building’s north and south elevations are mostly windowless, the water is located to the south. Maybe more odd than the lost opportunity to give seniors a beautiful view is a project timeline that kicked off with momentum before grinding to a halt.

Here’s the timeline.

• January 2021: A government press release says money for the project was set aside in the 2020-21 capital budget, and that the project supported a commitment to build 100 government-owned units.
  ‍
• January 2021: A survey of a government-owned tree lot took place to identify a portion of land for the building.
  ‍
• March 2021: Charlottetown’s planning department approved an application to subdivide the property, creating a flag lot – a plot of land named for their resemblance to a flagpole (slender strip extending from the street up to a rectangular main section).
  ‍
• April 2021: Province transferred the parcel of land to the PEI Housing Corporation.
  ‍
• August 2021: Charlottetown council approved a request to rezone the parcel of land from industrial to residential.

Then nothing – until yesterday when a construction tender was posted. The tender package includes drawings that make reference to a 2022 tender process that never took place. Construction of the building is expected to take 16 months, setting a completion target somewhere around late summer next year, almost four years after the project was first announced.