All seven lots now sold in Davies Street subdivision
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
Nearly $800,000 will be rolling into City coffers as the last of seven Davies Street lots were sold recently.
The City announced that all seven of the lots have now been purchased, and the street itself is completed with curb, gutter, sidewalk and pavement, last week.
Five months ago the City had to re-list three of the lots in the development as sales were sluggish. The first four sales brought $464,450, less the commission for the lots, to the City. They expected to collect around $330,000 for the remaining three.
The $600,000 project to create a park for upper Fairview residents is now in full swing.
As early as April, some work had been completed on the park, with water mains having been put in, fill trucked in to level the field, and a well and an irrigation system installed.
Weather permitting, tree planting will continue into late fall while much of the park has been seeded with grass.
A path has also been constructed along the Anderson Creek dike, connecting Ninth Street to the old Burlington Northern rail grade — funded in part by ActNowBC.
The Davies Street Park will be the third largest in the city, around 4.8 hectares. The plan will use the natural areas and the land forms to give shape to a community garden, multi-sports area, a beginner mountain bike skills park, a children’s adventure and nature playground, toddlers playground, biking and walking trails, washrooms, shelter and social area.
Realtor David Buss was contracted by the City to be its real estate agent for the sale of the lots. The lots themselves were advertised in a closed bid process in April and the competition closed with the bids being opened May 10.
At the time, bids on two City lots were not awarded, as the bids received were less than the appraised (market) value — considered to be the lowest possible price that the market would bear. No bids were received for one other City lot.
In a special meeting May 10 council accepted the four bids and decided to instruct Buss to continue to market the unsold lots until an offer comes along that meets the appraised value.
In February a covenant was registered on the land zoned R-7 to require any houses built to be two family residences or have a secondary suite, and that any houses built meet or exceed EnerGuide 80 standards from Natural Resources Canada.
That standard requires the homes use extra insulation, EnergyStar windows and efficient heating systems to make them more environmentally sound.
The covenant came in the wake of mixed public and council feedback about the sale and subdivision of the lots at a neighbourhood meeting in July of 2008. Council subsequently approved a staff recommendation to re-zone the land as R-7 — for single family, small-plot housing.
Note: Sidewalks have also been constructed in Fairview linking the 10th Street campus with LV Rogers Secondary School.
