Redevelopment plan in the works

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Published on Friday, March 11, 2016

Photo by Kate Jackman-Atkinson. Last week, crews from WinMar were cleaning up water damage to a building located at 244 Hamilton St., in Neepawa.  On Monday, the property went up for mortgage sale.

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

With no buyer coming forward at the mortgage auction, Naseer Chaudhry’s plans for the redevelopment of the property at 244 Hamilton St. in Neepawa continue to inch forward. The auction was held on March 7 as part of the foreclosure process. Through his Winnipeg-based finance and insurance company, Centum Above All Financial, Chaudhry is the second mortgage holder on the property.

Crews from WinMar have spent about a week cleaning up the building, which was badly damaged when the boiler broke and flooded the main floor.  Chaudhry said that he contacted the Town of Neepawa about turning off the water to the building, but said that only the water to the main floor was turned off, causing subsequent flooding and water damage to the apartments above.

The building currently has commercial space on the first floor and three apartments on the second floor; two one-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom. Chaudhry’s plans include retaining the commercial space on the main floor and developing six bachelor suite units on the second floor, with a separate entrance in the back. “They will be nicely done, from scratch,” he said, noting that the plans include nicer features, such as European style kitchens. 

First though, Chaudhry needs the approval of Neepawa Town council. The current bylaw requires 1.5 parking spots for each unit of housing, which the building doesn’t have. Chaudhry said that he has been able to lease some off site parking, which can be used by the tenants. He’d like to proceed with the redevelopment, but is still waiting on approval, “Let’s do it,” he said.

Chaudhry has also developed some properties in Gladstone, where he said the response from council and administration has been different. In Gladstone he said, “they changed zoning [on the building] because they want to see investment.”

Chaudhry would like to help address Neepawa’s housing shortage, but said that without the approval on the parking spaces, the project is back down to three suites and the revenue might not be enough to justify the investment.