Anyone interested in purchasing a unit in the River Walk condominium project on Front Street at its lowest price had until Friday afternoon to sign on the dotted line.
Friday was the deadline for buyers to sign second-stage agreements for one of the 32 units and not have to pay more than $4,000 in realty fees.
By early Friday morning, 15 buyers of the 19 pre-sold units had signed the agreement and provided the additional $7,000 deposit for their unit. Three more were to advise the town today of their intentions, said Fort Frances CAO Bill Naturkach.
The town also has made one new sale—a couple from Windsor recently signed on with the $5-million project.
“We’ve been communicating by phone and fax. I have yet to meet them,” Naturkach said.
The condo project actually could mean a mini population boom for Fort Frances, with seven of those to live in the building being new to the area.
“Take that StatsCan,” Naturkach joked, referring to the census numbers released Tuesday that showed Fort Frances had lost almost 500 residents since 1996.
Each new sale brings the project a step closer to completion since town council has committed to moving ahead only when 75 percent of the units (24) are sold.
Realtors now will have until the end of the month to locate the additional four or five buyers as Winnipeg developer Penn-co Construction Corp. is only holding its price until April 1.
Even if enough buyers can’t be found in time, Mayor Glenn Witherspoon and project organizers are trying to negotiate a deal with Penn-co to share cost of the four or five unsold units needed to move ahead with the development.
Mayor Witherspoon was unable to attend a previously-scheduled meeting with company president Ernest Penner in Steinbach, Man. on Wednesday, but Penner was slated to be in Fort Frances for another meeting Friday afternoon.
Naturkach said he’s sure more buyers will be found and that construction will begin soon.
“I’ve been confident throughout the entire project. This is a good project and the people are out there,” he remarked.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
