SAULT STE. MARIE -- Sault Ste. Marie will have a new addition downtown.
The city has approved a municipal tax grant application for an apartment complex, located on 110 Pim Street.
"It’s just steps away from our downtown, so it’s going to bring a huge number of people into the downtown area," said Matthew Shoemaker, Ward 3 councillor.
The project will cost developer Steve Perzia $20 million and will hold 103-units inside.
It will also include a sauna, party room, exercise room and a TV room.
"This compacts it all into one space, makes it very efficient to run municipal services," Shoemaker said. "It’s what we should be pushing for as a municipality, more multi-residential units."
It’s the 17th application to be approved through the city’s downtown community improvement plan.
It was created in 2017, in an effort to revitalize the downtown core.
"We’ll be bringing a report back to council very shortly on how we deal with the low-end of some of the buildings that are a problem downtown," said Luke Dufour, Ward 2 councillor.
Councillor Dufour says he wants to bring all buildings in the downtown up to "standard," and he believes by doing so, it will help attract more business.
"I think that it shows the private sector that we’re a good place to invest," said Dufour.
Perzia’s Pim Street apartment complex is far from major supermarkets, which could make it a challenge for potential residents.
"That’s something that people downtown have been yearning for, for a long time," Councillor Shoemaker said. "But the reality is, the more people that come down here, the services, the shops, like grocery stores, they’re going to want to be here, so it’s an incentive to keep building."
The city won’t pay out the money until the project is complete and outstanding bylaw infractions are cleared.
