A housing project years in the making is finally coming to fruition in Chatham.
Construction is underway on a new six-storey apartment building at the southwest corner of Park Avenue West and Keil Drive South.
The project was first proposed in 2021 and received its final approval from Chatham-Kent Council in 2024.
The building will include 116 residential units on the top five floors and commercial space on the ground floor.
The site will also include an eight-unit row house along Keil Drive.
Chatham-Kent's Manager of Planning Services Anthony Jas said the developer has not given any indication on who the future tenants will be for the commercial space on the ground floor and has not given a target completion date to the municipality.
"Private businesses are often guided by multi-year business plans which influence their decision-making," said Jas in an email to CK News Today. "Chatham-Kent is supportive of this business choosing Chatham-Kent as a desirable place to invest and providing new housing for a growing population."
Mayor Darrin Canniff said the development is just part of a larger focus on developing the south side of the city.
"Park Ave is going to be a pretty hot spot over the next few years," said Canniff. "It's near the (Highway) 401 and I think there will be a lot more things being built and opening up along that stretch from east to west."
The 116-unit building at the southwest corner of Park Ave. W. and Keil Dr. S. is being built just a few years after two other apartment buildings with about 120 units each were constructed a little further east on Park Ave. W.
- With files from Matt Weverink