Construction timeline for Regina's Capital Pointe delayed again

The lot at Victoria Avenue and Albert Street in Regina, promised to be the home of Saskatchewan's tallest building, is still a large hole.

The space is slated to become the Capital Pointe hotel and condominium project a 27-storey condominium building with 186 units, as well as a 12-storey hotel with 140 suites.

Excavation on that site began last fall after it satvacant since 2011, when the Plains Hotel was demolished. Fortress Real Developments took over the project in mid-2014.

• Timeline: Regina's Capital Pointe project a delayed dream

Last November, Fortress told CBC News that the building would reach ground level in July.

That timeline has now been pushed back. Fortress said in an email earlier this monththe expected date to reach ground level is now November 2017.

The developer said occupancy scheduling will now happen in spring 2019, despite a previous projectionthat the building would be completed a full year prior.

• Capital Pointe will be done in 2018, developer says

Construction progress

Work was on hold at the site Friday while the crew waits for a steel shipment. But Kerry McCormick, the project's construction manager with ITC Construction, said he's confident construction is moving ahead.

"We're just down to the last lift in the excavation so the last level of the parkade and the final level of tiebacks," he said of the project's expected five-storey underground parkade.

McCormick said the company expects to start pouring cement for the parkade within the next couple of months.

He attributed the delays thus far to ground conditions at the site and debris from old buildings which needed to be removed.

"The actual clay material, which we're digging all the way through, is a very poor material. It's very susceptible to moisture, so when it gets wet you can't work in it. You have to let it dry out. It's a very difficult material to excavate through," McCormick said.

In an emailed statement, city spokesperson Jamie Lewis said the company still has another four and a half metres to dig.

She addedthe company has applied for a permit to construct the building's foundation.

"We are currently waiting for them to pick this up," Lewis said.

Fortress financing

The City of Winnipeg's downtown development agency is also working with Fortress for a commercial space and parkade development at the current site of the St. Regis Hotel.

• New St. Regis Hotel developer has yet to erect single building

The City of Winnipegis asking for "more due diligence" on the financing side, which it already requires for another Fortress project in that city: the SkyCity Centre condo development.

"Right now, the position we are taking is that construction financing for the overall project would have to be in place before they can come in and dig a hole," said John Kiernan, property and planning director for the City of Winnipeg.

Fortress confirmed there is not yet secured construction financing for Capital Pointe in Regina.

"The developer is currently reviewing multiple offers and plans to choose the financing package for Capital Pointe," said Jenni Byrne, spokesperson for Fortress.

As for the delays that have happened with Regina's Capital Pointe project, they won't happen in Winnipeg, said Coun. John Orlikow, chair of Winnipeg's property, planning and development committee.

"We have the extra layers of protection here to make sure that doesn't happen," Orlikow said.

Area councillorfrustrated

Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens wants to see some actualdevelopment and more clarity around construction timelines.

"The uncertainty is actually quite frustrating," Stevens said. "What other kind of developmentcould have been taking place in that very important location downtown that's being blocked?"

He called the excavation zone a blight on the area and annoyance to pedestrianswho have no sidewalk access because of the digging.

Stevens said that as a councillor, he's in the darkabout the project's status.

"And as far as I know the city has the same amount of information, so there's no definite completion date," he said.

Stevens is confident the city's planning policies are solid and this project is an exception.

"It's just a general frustration from all angles."

Capital Pointe timeline

• September 2010:First look at the26-floortower model with an expected June 2015 completion date.
• December 2011:Demolition of The Plains Hotel.
• Early 2012:Developer'soriginal building permit expires.
• November 2012:Empty lot remains untouched as multiple factors delay groundbreaking.
• May 2013:Official groundbreaking ceremony.
• June 2014:Fortress Real Developments takes over project.
• November 2014:Second building permit expires.
• September 2015:Work begins on site.
• November 2016:Developers announce ground level completion of July 2017 with a 2018 overall completion date.
• May 2017:Developer expects to reach ground level construction in November and overall completion in spring 2019.