Nanaimo developer Don Saywell has purchased a subdivision on Tomswood Road behind AW Neill and plans to build smaller single detached homes on the lots.
The subdivision was created two years ago but stalled. Roads and utilities were put in, and there are two homes built.
Port Alberni realtor Dave Koszegi said restrictive covenants have been changed on the site to permit smaller houses on existing lots.
The housing trend in Port Alberni leans toward smaller single detached homes over townhomes, Koszegi said.
The Tomswood Road lots will be able to accommodate RV or boat parking in addition to the houses, he added.
New home sales are currently priced above the average selling price, which ranges from $194,000 to $204,000 in Port Alberni. Saywell’s home will be priced around the average sale price.
The project will be built in phases, with four to six homes in the first phase, Koszegi said.
Saywell hopes to break ground on the new development in the next couple of months.
Saywell won a 2010 commercial building award from the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board for The Luxfords at Lexington, a townhome complex.
The most recent project Saywell completed was the visitor’s centre on the Nanaimo Parkway at Northfield Road.
Saywell is no stranger to Port Alberni, however, as he owns a vacation home at Sproat Lake and has spent nearly every weekend here for the past 22 years.
This will be his first building venture on this side of the Hump.
“Port Alberni is an underserved market for new homes,” says Saywell, whose company has worked on projects from Campbell River to Victoria.
Saywell, who works alongside his wife Cheryl, said he has already made some alliances with local contractors and is sourcing local suppliers for pending construction.
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