Construction delays led to Fort Rouge Yards rebranding, land owner says

The owner of the former Fort Rouge Yards says construction delays led to the decision to rebrandthe residential development underway alongside the first phase of the Southwest Transitway.

Since 2008,developer Andrew Marquess hasbeen working on a plan to transform the old CNrailyards west of the Lord Roberts neighbourhood into a residential development. In 2013, his company, Gem Equities,started marketing 40 townhouses as the first component of a development dubbed The Yards at Fort Rouge.

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Those units were supposed to be built in a partnership with TV personality Mike Holmes' development company. Now, Holmes has no more involvement,Winnipeg developer Sunstone is serving as the project manager and the entire development has been rebranded as Jubilee Winnipeg.

"Theprojecthadnoconstructionactivity.Wedidn'tgetastartonit. It was just a decision that was made to get a fresh marketing idea to move forward on it," Marquess said Wednesday.

Marquess said he never intended to serve as the general contractor on the development, which calls for the construction of 900 condos and apartments in a mix of townhouses, mid-rise buildings and high rises.

Gem and its financial backer,Toronto-based non-banklenderFirst National Financial, "decidedSunstonewas the right firm to do thebuild-out," said Marquess, adding "there was nothing negative" about the decision to end the partnership with Holmes.

"It was just a decision to go in a different direction," Marquess said.

The developer said he'sexcitedto see a concept heenvisionedeight years agocoming to fruition. The first 40 units are under construction and should be complete in the spring of 2017,SunstoneCEO BillCoadysaid on Monday.

Marquess said he could not place a timeline on the completebuild-outof the project, the first of several residential developments planned to rise alongside the SouthwestTransitway.

There aretoo manyvariablesat play, he added.

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