A2

By James Mallory

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Proposals to fill the vacant Kent property off Main Street in Bathurst are coming along.

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James Mallory/Northern Light Photo

A feasibility study is presently under way on how to best transform the Kent property on Main Street from an economic development perspective.

A meeting was held Aug. 13 between eight members of the Downtown Bathurst Revitalization Corporation steering committee and The Terrain Group, the consultilng firm hired to study development proposals for the property.

Bob Anderson, a Bathurst city councillor and general manager of the DBRC, said the two and a half hour meeting touched on three proposals and in the end, one concept was formed.

"The consultants brought in some concepts of what would happen with the property and the steering committee looked at the various concepts," explained Mr. Anderson. "They brought in three different scenarios so (the steering committee takes those ideas) piecemeal and put them together and say this might work for the property. That's basically what that meeting was for.

"Ultimately, you end up with one concept but you take the various concepts and you pick the parts out of each one that you like and put them together."

Mr. Anderson said the last meeting was "very preliminary," but the next meeting will help in determining a clearer direction with respect to the development of the property.

"On the 11th of September, the consultants come back and meet with the committee and they take the scenario we developed (from the Aug. 13 meeting) and they will tell us whether or not they deem it to be feasible, what the costs would be, versus any revenues that could be derived from it."

Mr. Anderson said the development will be commercial but he did not want to get into details of the latest proposal due to it being in the preliminary stages.

"It's so preliminary right now that anything I tell you could change. We're looking at a mix of residential, commercial, retail for that property. It's a commercial development and it's how we go about putting that together that's going to make the difference."

The Kent property now serves as a parking lot and home to the City Famers' Market. The W.J. Kent and Co. general store was on the site until it was torn down in 1990, hence the property's name.

Municipal leaders have since been looking for something to go on the Kent property that would serve as an anchor for economic development in the downtown core.

Mr. Anderson said it's positive to see this file moving along, even if it's just ideas at this point.

"It's encouraging because we've been a long time trying to get something going and absolutely nothing has come to fruition. With these consultants, they're a forward looking group and so far we are pleased with their approach."

Mr. Anderson concluded that any proposal has to make financial sense for a developer.

"You can't really make suggestions or project anything until you have a handle of what the associated costs would be. Ultimately, at the end of the day, any developer that's going to take on this project is going to want to have it financially viable."