This project has been many years in the making, and I think it will be a real catalyst to help our City develop in a positive way. We have a very large list of people who are interested in living close to the core in high quality suites/residences.
This is very exciting for us as we strongly believe in a more urbanized Peterborough that promotes a healthy, active and fun lifestyle. Peterborough is a very special community that we love, and we are looking forward to celebrating this idea of community more with this project and another one we have coming up next year in East City.
Our waterfront is truly one of Peterborough’s greatest features and up until now it has lacked the attention it deserves. The vision for this project started 12 years ago and aims to take the waterfront back and make it a community asset by eliminating all traffic and creating trails, landscaped areas, art installations and gathering nodes along the Trans Canada trail.
Larger Cities like Chicago showed proactive and smart planning by keeping the waterfront public and their City has greatly benefited from this vision. We have that same opportunity here—especially once the City is able to complete the full trail loop over into East City.
This coupled with the potential of a Del Crary park rejuvenation and a new world class Art Gallery makes the Little Lake area an amazing location for increased residential density. Our goal is to make Peterborough the best place in Canada to live and we feel this project will help us take a step in this direction.
The Crescent St building itself will be approximately 100 suites (depending on the final mix of suites and whether clients decide to combine suites). They will be both private residences and luxury rental suites, and there will be a mix of many styles of suites (townhomes, lofts, penthouses, etc.).
The building will have amenities that will make it Peterborough’s first true luxury community that will cater to those in our community that are looking for high end suites, beautiful views, walkable central location and building services that have yet to be offered in Peterborough. Our City is in drastic need of housing across all spectrums. This building looks to satisfy one of the markets that we see a large demand for.
We do, however, need to find solutions to the apartment affordability issue. We are working with a local housing provider to create a cool affordable project close to the core. We hope to announce this project and timing before Christmas.
We are all members of this community and we need to find ways to help this City grow in a positive way that includes finding options across the whole housing spectrum. We hope that our upcoming projects will help address many of the areas of the demand.
Below is a quote from Michael Gallant, who designed the property for us. I think it does a great job of capturing the initial vision I went to Lett Architects with years ago…
"Peterborough is changing. The Ashburnham Crescent street development is responding to the growing desire for housing options that cater to a more urban lifestyle in a central location. The design is inspired by its proximity to Little Lake, with plans to reclaim a section of Crescent street to provide new public park space, trail connections, and the potential to naturalize the shoreline. Many of the units are designed to encourage a relationship with its surroundings, embracing what’s best about Peterborough: its community, its waterfront, and its central area.”
—guest post by Paul Bennett for PTBOCanada
Learn more about Bennett’s vision for Peterborough, the downtown and smart, sustainable growth in this interview he conducted on our show PTBOCanada earlier this year…
