First Of Three New Apartment Towers In Shediac On Track To Finish By November
SHEDIAC – Alexandre Girouard is in the final stretch of building the first of three 95-unit apartment buildings, containing 216 units, in housing-hungry Shediac.
Girouard, the developer behind Breaux Bridge Estates, said he plans to open the five-storey apartment complex at 5 Breaux Bridge Road in November. Right now, he says, construction is three-quarters complete.
“Progress is good and we don’t anticipate any delays from here until November,” Girouard said. He noted they are already laying down flooring and installing doors and kitchen cabinetry on the first floor.
“The only delays we got were in winter, in January, when we had to shovel all the roofs and were framing. We got snow dumped on us every other day, so that was the biggest delay. Most of the materials and trades have been steadily coming in and, overall, we’re on schedule.”
Construction began on the first building in early June last year and the bulk of the work is being done by Girouard’s company, LSR Enterprises Ltd.
“We are at zero vacancies in Shediac. There is a demand for multi-unit residential developments and there is opportunity in Moncton, Dieppe, Riverview, and Shediac,” said Girouard.
Girouard’s plan to bring three new apartment complexes he unofficially dubbed “three sisters” to Shediac has parallels with fellow developer John Lafford’s The Three Sisters Along the River – a three 15-storey apartment tower development at 20 Record Street in Moncton.
Like Lafford, who is building to provide sorely needed rental housing to Moncton, Girouard said his plans are a response to Shediac’s exceptionally tight rental housing market.
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Girouard plans to start construction on his second apartment tower in March, 2023. The second building will contain the commercial amenities for all three buildings, including the meeting rooms and gym.
The apartments range in size from one to three bedrooms, from 800 to 1,300 square feet, and will rent for between $1,275 and $2,150 per month.
When asked how much it costs to build an apartment building on the scale of Breaux Bridge Estates, Girouard demurred, noting he can’t divulge costs.
“We’re on budget from our cost expectations and should be, by the end of the project,” he said.
Girouard said the first of the three buildings he has planned for Shediac is already 40 percent pre-leased and that he hopes to have it 50 to 75 percent rented by the time it opens.
Shediac is a retirement community, Girouard said, acknowledging that the price point and type of accommodations he’s building are intended for older renters – a group including retirees and empty-nesters looking to downsize.
“A lot of people coming from the city and outskirts are relocating to Shediac and the amenities in Shediac are more appealing – it’s a lot livelier than it was 15 or 20 years ago,” said Girouard.
“The southeast is attracting a lot of people from Ontario, Quebec, and Vancouver. When I deal with clients from Ontario, they know we’re on the map for our quality of living and affordability,” added Girouard, who is a real estate broker with Creativ Realty.
Girouard noted that raised some local concern.
According to coverage from the L’Acadie Nouvelle in 2020, the project originally elicited disapproval from 150 residents in the area who objected to the rezoning of its location as it was originally zoned for single-family homes.
Despite misgivings about the size of Girouard’s development and the potential traffic it would bring to the area, the project received unanimous approval from Shediac’s nine-member town council in 2020, albeit with several conditions in place.
To make sure his development would create minimal issues, Girouard has revised his plans several times, adjusting to make sure the buildings didn’t cast shade on surrounding homes and that it was in accordance with the requirements council ordered.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].