by PAUL RAYNER

To help keep existing residents, and attract new ones, a group of investors are working on a new apartment complex in Boissevain.

Called Crocus Hill Estates Incorporated, the idea is to have an upscale living complex in which amenities are all indoor, which is quite appropriate for the climate. According to Elaine Froese, one of the seven investors in the project, the early legwork was done by Turtle Mountain Community Development Officers Shirley Bell and Aggie Buhler. The idea is based on already existing developments in communities like Morden, Winkler and Carberry. She herself checked out the complex in Morden.

“The people there liked the convenience, the quiet,” she said. “The people there really liked the living arrangements.”

Crocus Hill is to be located on the northeast corner of Boissevain, accessing Aikman Street. Although somewhat far from the downtown core, Froese said it is a quiet area, with the complex being “a community within a community”. Plans are for the apartments to range from 950 square feet to 1500 square feet. They will feature 9-foot ceilings and the complex will include 7-ft wide hallways.

Although the plans are still currently in development, initial plans are for the first phase of the project to include around 16 units. As well, amenities will include a common room and inside communal parking. Eventually, they are hoping to have between 48 and 60 units overall.

In order to secure an apartment, one will need to put $1,000 down and then it will cost $39,000 when permit approved, plus rent. The $40,000 is liquid, however, and is returned should the apartment holder leave the complex.

Who is the project aimed at? Many could benefit from the development. Seniors, for one, would find a complex where wide hallways and indoor parking is available beneficial. However, as Froese explained, the complex is an adult living one, where there is no age limit or actual age target. Another investor, Brent Hazlewood, named a group who could be interested in the development.

“This would be good for snowbirds,” Hazlewood stated. “They can go south for a few months, and their neighbours can water their plants without having to go outside in the winter. They can leave without worrying about things like their pipes freezing.”

The complex can serve a double purpose. It can keep local citizens in Boissevain, but it can also attract others from outside. Froese said the experience in similar projects shows that as many as 50% of occupants can come from outside the community. It could be old residents returning or people retiring from the north or from the more expensive locales of British Columbia and Alberta.

Of the seven investors, four are local, and three from outside the community. An experienced group Bridge Road Development is developing the project. As they are also investors in the complex, they have a vested interest in its quality.

Plans are presently being drawn up, and the hope is the digging in the site can begin in August. If all goes well, the first tenants can enter by July 2009. Froese is presently looking to have a tour to Carberry to look at the similar estate there and anyone interested can contact her. She said it is an important project for Boissevain’s future.

“There is a definite need for this,” she stated. “We don’t want people to leave and we want to attract new people too.”