DOWNTOWN FACELIFT 
 
DAVE STEWART 
The Guardian
 
Charlottetown’s skyline is about to change in a big way.
 
Homburg Invest Inc. announced Thursday it will spend $45 million on a three-phase development project in downtown Charlottetown, a project that will span three city blocks.
 
The project, which is scheduled to get underway early next year, involves a new 10-storey, 82-room boutique hotel above The Shops of Confederation Court Mall; refurbishing the mall itself; and an eight-storey commercial office building on Fitzroy Street (which broke ground this fall) and a refurbishment.
 
Homburg already has properties in Charlottetown. It owns Dyne Holdings, which owns The Shops of Confederation Court Mall and the Northumberland Condominiums on Pownal Street.
 
“We decided it was time to reinvest in the next 10 years,’’ said Richard Homburg, chairman and CEO of Homburg Invest Inc., a reference to the fact his company purchased Dyne Holdings a decade ago.
 
The economic spinoffs of the project are expected to exceed $100 million and include 75,000 person days of employment. Once completed, the benefits will include 200 direct new jobs, 300 indirect jobs and new opportunities for partnerships with the tourism, convention and cultural sectors.
 
Dave McKenna, president of the Downtown Business Association in Charlottetown, was quite impressed with the news.
 
“Oh, it’s fabulous, great for the (downtown) core,’’ McKenna said. “It’s going to increase the tax base in Charlottetown and it’s definitely going to attract people.’’
 
The first phase of the project, the office building on Fitzroy Street, will be a class A, 50,000-square-foot commercial office building featuring all the amenities. The entire top floor has already been leased to a financial brokerage company.
 
The early stages of the second phase began last year with the revamping of the food court in The Shops of Confederation Court Mall and the creation of the Urban Eatery. More work will begin in a matter of weeks, involving a major refurbishing of the interior and exterior of the Confederation Court Complex.
 
This 400,000-square-foot office and retail complex was built 30 years ago and requires some fixing up, Homburg said, to make sure it remains the anchor in the capital city.
 
A highlight of this phase of redevelopment will be the restoration of the façade of the historic Holman Building on Grafton Street. 
 
The third phase involves the hotel, the first major new hotel in the city in 25 years. Construction of the hotel is scheduled to begin early in 2009. The top floor of the hotel will be a single level, 2,200-square-foot super luxury presidential suite with a large wraparound terrace and 360-degree view of the city. 
 
All three phases are scheduled to be completed in the next 24 to 30 months.