Mike Muminovic, of A Cut Above Tree Service, poses with the largest of 150 stumps his firm removed from the 1.4-acre parcel next to the former Scouts Hall of Cuyler Road. The land will see a 45-unit townhome development move forward in 2022 from NewRock Developments.--News Photo Collin Gallant
https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews
More than 150 trees were taken off the site of a new housing development in southeast Medicine Hat this week and the former Scouts Hall on Cuyler Road is set to be demolished this week.
That will make way for the construction of 45 townhomes that will get underway in the new year by NewRock Developments.
“It’s a bit of a change for us, but we find there can often be a lack of purpose-built (rental) townhomes in the market,” said Cam Ens, NewRock’s president, who stated the Medicine Hat-based company now has similar projects underway in Saskatoon and Regina.
The plan is to build modern two- and three-bedroom units which the company would hold and offer as rental units.
NewRock acquired the local land from the city’s land department in a deal announced last March, paying $449,000 for the 1.4-acre site.
This week, A Cut Above Tree Service moved in to take down the substantial stand of cottonwood and spruce trees on the site. This week they trucked out shredded stumps that covered the lot, and by Wednesday only the base of a cottonwood four feet in diameter remained.
The parcel is located between two other town home clusters and the linear park that runs along the east side of the Medicine Hat exhibition grounds.
Several years ago Scouts Canada began marketing the facility, which sat on leased city land, for sale as a general program to reduce its real estate holdings.
The city acquired the building in 2020 for $1 through an agreement where it assumed liabilities to asbestos and lead in the downstairs target range.
It was then resold at reduced price “as is where is” to NewRock, which completed the hazardous material removal this fall.
