ESTEVAN - Estevan will soon see a new living complex for seniors built in the northern part of the city.
Monday morning Hirsch Holdings Ltd. and City of Estevan representatives were at 2330 Morsky Drive to break the ground for 10 one-level duplex-type condos for seniors.
Duplexes will be built in two phases. The first three duplexes are being started now and are to be completed in early 2023. And they hope to start working on the latter two in the fall.
In total, they will build 10 condos with garages ranging from 1,304 to 1,850 square feet.
The condos won't have a basement or any kind of stairs, allowing for a more comfortable accommodation for seniors.
Garry Hirsch said they've built one-level living facilities in Estevan before, but there is still a great demand for that kind of accommodation.
"We've got lots of calls in the office over the last couple of years from people that are … looking for one-level [houses] with a garage. They're moving from a house, they want to downsize, but yet they're not ready for a seniors’ comp or something, they live on their own," Treena Hirsch said, confirming his words.
Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig underlined that having one-level living quarters will be great for many families in the community.
"I think it's something that people want," said Councillor Lindsay Clark.
Garry Hirsch said he had his eye on this property for a couple of years because of the Shirley Creek running on the side of it, and the company finally purchased the land last fall. He thanked the city for all their help going through the requirements and paperwork, and now they are ready to start building.
"When you are developing property, there's a lot of red tape, city bylaws, building code. And, of course, the city's got all that knowledge. We have it too, but the bylaws change from year to year. So the city has worked with us and really helped us get this thing rolling," Garry said.
A big sign showing the layout of the project will go up at the location soon to give people a better understanding of what's being done.
One condo has already been sold, and another sale is in the works. Once they sell about 60 per cent of the first-phase properties, they want to start working on the latter two buildings. The hope is to proceed to phase two and put foundations in before the freeze-up, so they could work through the remaining two duplexes during winter.
The market has been fluctuating a lot over the past two years and prices have been going up significantly. Treena Hirsch said while it hasn't been easy, they've put in a lot of work to ensure everything works out well.
"It's been a little bit stressful that way, but Garry has done a lot of work on making sure the bids are coming in fairly. You have to go with market value. We know that lumber is high, but we've gone out to subcontractors as well and basically come in with the best prices we could," explained Treena.
Garry added that they are planning on using local subcontractors, and there will be a lot of people involved throughout the construction period with five to 20 people working at the location at a time.
"I'm not done with all the subcontractors, but it looks like pretty well everything will be local," he said.
"It's very important to us," Treena added.
