A big restaurant and a special event centre are part of the vision for the redevelopment of the red barn site at 101 Bellerose Drive that Boudreau Developments unveiled Saturday.
Hundreds of Botanica residents and members of the public attended two of the company’s open house presentations. Company president Dave Haut said the response was overwhelmingly positive over plans for a future mixed-use area with a combination of retail, professional space and either medium-or high-density residential units.
“I envision more clusters of medical and health-related things ranging from doctors and dentists offices to things like yoga studios and naturopaths. It just seems to be the way that the clients that have been attracted to the site for that commercial space,” Haut said.
The approximately eight-acre site is the last parcel of what was once Holes Gardens and Greenhouse with the recognizable red barn being the only vestige remaining. The Shops at Boudreau and the Botanica buildings have already been established.
The company hopes to flesh out the remainder with mixed residential and retail space, one of the highlights of which would be a 5,000 to 6,000 sq.-ft. restaurant tiered above a special event centre that could be rented out and catered by the restaurant. The centre would also have a patio overlooking the river.
All of that means that the red barn’s days are numbered as expected.
“Practically speaking, where it sits on the side, there's just no way to keep it. What we want to do is have the entrance to the site mirror the Shops at Boudreau. With the red barn there, it's right in the middle of that so it interrupts the whole site,” he explained, adding that the company hopes to incorporate part of the building’s architecture into the new development.
“It would still have the red roof and the barn style peak. We're trying to keep some significant pieces on the site. It's a special site, obviously.”
Haut did hear some concerns that another developer was going to buy it and veer from the style and the vision of Botanica and the Shops. He also heard a lot of concerns over the traffic. He said that those concerns are indeed valid.
“Traffic. That's number one.”
Traffic studies have been ordered and he expects to have them in hand in a few weeks, along with a site-servicing study. After that, he hopes to put in an official rezoning application within six weeks.
One Botanica resident (who asked not to be named) said she was pleased with the vision and that it makes her optimistic for what the future will hold in the developer's hands.
"It's a project that uses the word community. It's a walkable community. The next one will be something similar. I'm pleased if there's going to be something there then that Boudreau does it because we're happy with the way things are, the way this project has developed."
