Delays at an Inglewood Drive housing complex mean new residents won’t be able to move in until sometime in 2012 instead of spring 2011.
Located at 2 Inglewood Dr., Lions Village Inglewood is an independent-living facility for seniors. The building’s 120 apartments include a mix of one-bedroom, one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom units.
Karon McGrath, treasurer of the Lions Village of Greater Edmonton Society, a non-profit that operates three other independent-living facilities in Edmonton, cited a late opening for the building’s show suite as a factor in the delay.
McGrath said the show suite, now located at the proposed site kitty corner to Canadian Tire, was supposed to open in early September but instead opened its doors toward the end of October.
“And then it’s just a matter of getting the permits and the financing has taken longer than what we anticipated,” she told the Gazette Monday.
“Now that we’ve got to this time of the year, we also have a lot of people away because people go away for the winter.”
McGrath said the majority or residents who have pre-leased a unit are from St. Albert.
“There’s only a few from Edmonton and other areas,” she said.
Society chair Alan Bissonnette said the development is still in the preleasing phase.
“We’re currently at 38 pre-leases, and of course we’re aiming for as much pre-leased before we scratch the ground. We’ve been getting quite a bit of interest. Actually it’s going along quite well,” he said.
“The vast majority of the units that are pre-leased are on the river side. It’s also a very beautiful view of the city from the other side but people are swallowing up on the riverside first.”
As with any Lions Village, Bissonnette said they are aiming to have 75 per cent of the units pre-leased before construction commences.
Prices for the units have also increased modestly from between $257,000 to $389,000 to between $260,000 to $395,000.
“The market has changed for construction,” Bissonnette said, adding that original estimates were based on a preliminary budget.
The proposed site was originally slated for an 88-unit luxury adult building but was later purchased by the Lions.
Unlike traditional purchases or rental transactions, the Lions employ a life-lease model whereby residents provide a loan for a percentage of the value of their unit.
“It’s in effect a capital loan to the society and a refundable loan that they contribute anywhere from 35 to 100 per cent of the value of the unit that they’re moving into,” Bissonnette said.
Monthly payments are determined by the amount of the loan given by residents — the higher the equity, the lower the payments, and vice versa.
When residents want to leave, they provide notice and get back an amount ranging from 97 per cent to 100 per cent of what they put in, depending on how long they’ve lived in the unit.
The L-shaped building will include a six- and a five-storey section.
Unlike other Lions Villages, Bissonnette said they are looking at using different building materials.
“All of our previous Lions Villages were wood and this one, we’re looking at concrete, we’re trying to do an entirely concrete building,” he said.
“We’re looking at the most effective and also the safest method of construction.”
