InHouse Developments taking over stalled Glenora Skyline project

The Glenora Skyline, a once-ambitious development project turned eyesore, is finally getting back on track.

Work on the three luxury towers, on Stony Plain Road and 142nd Street, was stopped in January 2014 when the owners ran into money problems.

Now, more than a year later, InHouse, a branch of Beaverbrook Developments, is set to take possession of the project in the next couple weeks.

"It's been a long process," Beaverbrook project manager Salima Kheraj said Thursday. "It's gone through a foreclosure, and so it has gone through the courts and there are some proceedings that we're just tying up right now."

The company's first step will be to tidy up the property.

"I think mostly what you see right now is that it's a bit run down, and there's pieces of wood that have been weathered. There's lots of debris on the site, so we'd like to start the process of cleaning that up."

As part of court process, the previous contractors now have about two months to clean up the siteand pick up their building materials, Kheraj said.

"Then we can do a really fresh restart of that site and make it look a little bit better."

The concrete structure built by the previous developersis in good shape, though, and can stay, she said.

Leftover building materials won't be the only scrapped items; InHouse plans to make significant changes to the building's design, although Kheraj said the property will still likely include a mix of residential, commercial and retail space.

Right now, the company is in the process of selecting an architect to do the work. Once a design is selected, InHouse will need to go back through a re-zoning process.

"As part of that rezoning process, there will be consultation with the community, with the city, and other stakeholders," Kheraj said.

But in the end, she is confident the extra work will be worth it.

"It was a challenge to get the site under our belt, for sure, but I think at the end of the day we looked at the site and we thought, 'Well, this is a fantastic opportunity, it's an amazing location, it's close to the river valley, and it's got fantastic views,' " she said.

Also among the perks: proximity to a planned LRT line, a prestigious location in the heart of Glenora, and more than three acres of space to work with.

"All of that just made it a fantastic opportunity for us, and we see lots of potential for it."

Kheraj said construction on the site is expected to start again in about a year.

• On mobile? Listen to the full interview here