More small businesses & housing coming for Fernwood Village
›› Lee Herrin
In 2013, Fernwood NRG purchased two properties in the core of Fernwood Village (1310 Gladstone Avenue and 2009 Fernwood Road). As well, we obtained an option to purchase 2013 and 2017 Fernwood Road for redevelopment as affordable housing apartments. Overall, our vision was to add more housing and commercial space to the village core, a vision that was consistent with what we were asked to do by neighbours in our 2011 Neighbourhood Visioning Forum.
A little more than three years later, various projects in the village core are either underway or very close to breaking ground. As previously announced in this space, Fernwood NRG determined after neighbourhood consultation that 2013 and 2017 Fernwood Road were not suitable for redevelopment on the scale we were considering. As such, we decided not to exercise our option to purchase the properties. The properties were subsequently sold by the owner to private individuals. One of those families is in the process of building a new home at 2017 Fernwood Road.
This past July, we obtained the development approvals necessary to transform 1310 Gladstone into a mixed use building with commercial space on the ground and main floors (the main entrance will be on Gladstone Avenue), and residential apartments or office units upstairs. This will be the first new mixed use building in the village to be built in 100 years. We really are building the village of the future. At this point, we are planning to commence construction in March of 2017.
This past summer, we also entered into an agreement to sell the property at 2009 Fernwood Road to the Fernwood Inn group. Although we are friends, it was definitely a commercial transaction and the sale was completed at a market price. In considering how we might redevelop the building, we realized that the site presented a lot of challenges. As such, it made more sense to renovate the existing building.
Given we are entering into our own project, it also made sense to sell the building to an owner with the resources to renovate immediately, rather than having it sit vacant for another year while we worked through our Gladstone Avenue project. If you’ve been down to the village, you’ll realize that the renovations are already underway—the Fernwood Inn group is gutting the building and will be refurbishing it over the next six months. Watch this space in the next issue for an update from them on their plans for the space.
In 2018, parts of Fernwood Village will look a little different than they have in the past. We’re laying the foundations of what the Fernwood will become over the next 100 years—a slightly denser village with more businesses and services focused on serving neighbourhood residents.
