With construction work at the River Walk condominium close to completion, the town and developer Penn-co Construction Canada Ltd. will be pushing to provoke buyers’ interest in the 14 unsold units at an open house May 7.
“We’re looking forward to the community appreciating the quality of the units,” Fort Frances CAO Bill Naturkach said yesterday.
“We’ve had some delays, but by and large, we’re past that. Now, we’re really ready for people to see what we have here,” he added.
The public is welcome to come to the condominium (611 Nelson St.) between 2-4 p.m. on May 7. Ernest Penner, president of Penn-co, will be on hand for the official ribbon-cutting, and refreshments will be served.
Naturkach said all but two or three condo owners have moved into their units over the past few months. He noted all the remaining units are now fit for sale and habitable, and considered “substantially complete,” with only minor deficiencies to be addressed.
Some of the unsold ones meet the standards of the basic package while others will be left only partly finished to allow for any modifications prospective owners might want.
Final architectural and warranty inspections will be conducted in the next month or so.
But the fact remains 14 units still remain unsold. As part of the deal to build the project in the first place, both the town and Penn-co agreed to be financially responsible for selling a certain number of units—most recently, the town was on the hook for a total of 10.
Naturkach noted the two parties agreed March 27 to “pool” the 14 unsold units, meaning the parties will not be in direct competition to sell the units for which they’re responsible.
“It’s the right thing to do, so there won’t be any undercutting or things like that to worry about,” he remarked.
Additionally, local real estate brokers have been trying to sell units, and have been showing them off to interested clients for the past few months.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
