$1B project to bring thousands of housing units to Bible Hill
The Municipality of the County of Colchester has approved a housing project that will bring about 3,000 residential units to Bible Hill, N.S., within the next 10 years.
The project will cost over $1 billion and is headed by Five Corners Properties, a Colchester-based group consisting of five local entrepreneurs.
“It’s actually the largest property development outside of HRM in all of Nova Scotia,” said Five Corners CEO Evan Price. “We wanted to make sure that Bible Hill was catching up.”
The community hub will be developed on roughly 69 hectares of land between Brookside and Pictou roads. Price said the group hasn’t yet applied for any funding, but he is looking forward to seeing what provincial and federal housing support programs arise.
The project will consist of a variety of units to rent or own. It will include apartments, single-family, semi-detached and even luxury homes.
Price said there will be some “affordable, entry-level” prices, but it’s too early to determine exact pricing.
“It’s really a source of pride to know that we’re working in the communities that we all grew up in,” said Price, who’s from Truro.
Closing the gaps
According to Colchester County’s 2023 Housing Needs Report, there was a housing shortage of 250 units in 2022. The report says the county needs 805 new units by 2027 to close that gap.
Eric Boutilier, councillor for Bible Hill and Brookside, is thrilled that the project is underway.
“It wasn’t a hard decision at all,” Boutilier said of the design that council passed unanimously last week. “We all know that housing is an issue all across the province, including Colchester County. To have this development on the go… is looking good for the future,”
He said the municipality hasn’t committed any funding to the project, but he hopes that will come soon. Boutilier would also like to see financial contributions from the provincial and federal governments.
He thinks working with local developers will help ensure that the best interests of Bible Hill residents remain top of mind for everyone involved with the project.
Price is emphasizing the importance of hiring as much local labour as possible to work on the development.
A timeline for the project will depend on logistics, but Price estimates it will take up to 10 years to complete.
