Two of Elliot Lake’s 1950s-era landmark buildings are being restored to house apartments and retail space.
They are the Elliot Plaza, in the building's upper plaza and former grocery store, and the former Melanie’s Liquidation furniture store, located in the lower plaza with its familiar domed roof.
The owner of both is a Hamilton-area developer and mortgage provider who purchased the upper plaza building 12 years ago from the mining company Rio Algom (since acquired by BHP) for about $500,000. He purchased the second building more recently.
Speaking with ElliotLakeToday on the condition of anonymity, he said he's spending more than $1 million to bring the structures back from a rundown state.
His vision is to renovate and rent upper floor apartments, and lease space in the ground floor level for retail use. The lower plaza building will include ground floor retail space and two lower level apartments.
According to Adel Alkhafaji, of Toronto-based Canadian Construction and Consultant Engineers Inc., the upper plaza building renovations will be completed gradually as construction is completed.
The 19,000-square-foot building will have 24 one- and two-bedroom apartments on the second floor and 16 1,600-foot retail spaces on the main floor. The commercial units can be built to suit the renters' needs.
Alkhafaji said he expects the renovations will take several months to have apartments and retail space gradually completed and rented. The owner is aiming for March to begin renting space. Long-time tenant The Source will be the first to move to its new location soon.
The apartments are considered luxury units and will rent for $1,100 for one-bedroom and $1,400 for the two-bedroom units, according to the owner. The renters will include all ages including seniors. The Elliot Plaza is also central to the city’s business core. Units are split into two sections, one to house seniors and the other for young adults.
To date, all the windows have been replaced; fire code requirements have been updated, with sprinkler systems installed in each unit; a laundry room has been built; wider doorways have been created in the units; and an elevator has been installed to provide easy access to the apartments on the second floor.
Each unit has its own heating system and hot water heater that can be controlled by the tenant.
The upper plaza building has been completely gutted and a new sloped roof was put on last year to replace the former flat roof, which was prone to leaking due to melting snow and rain.
“We’re doing a great job,” the owner said. “We’re renovating the whole building.”
The original steel beam construction has kept the structure solid since it was first built around 1958, according to Alkhafaji.
Alkhafaji said about 600 people responded to an advertisement for general labourers. Only five were from Elliot Lake, and two declined when seeing the scope of the work.
Most of the workers hired come from the Toronto area where different contractors have been used for the different aspects of the renovation taking place, including electrical, drywall, and bathroom and kitchen installation.
The workers are housed in apartments and work 12 days on with three days off.
Work on the lower plaza building is slowly taking place, with no concrete target for its completion.
— ElliotLakeToday
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