Five Corners Properties is preparing to submit a development application for the first phase of a major mixed-use residential project in Bible Hill, N.S., according to a CBC report.

Jim Lorraine, president of Five Corners Properties, told CBC the local company will soon seek a development agreement with the Municipality of Colchester. Bible Hill, a village, and Colchester are part of the Truro, N.S., region.

Lorraine anticipates that the project could come up for a vote in coming months and the first phase of construction involving 225 homes could start in in 2026, according to the report.

Plans call for 2,300 to 2,500 residential units to be built on the 63-acre site over the next 20 years. Colchester told CBC that the project was scaled back to allow for more parkland space after the company initially aimed to develop up to 3,000 homes.

“It’s not going to happen all at once,” he told his interviewer. “It just can’t. So Phase 1 is up to 225 units, and there’s going to be a mix of single residential and duplexes and things like that.”

Later phases are slated to include apartment buildings of up to six storeys and commercial spaces.

“Naturally you’re going to have your restaurants and cafés and stuff along the main artery through the centre of the project,” Lorraine told CBC.

Additional plans call for a recreation centre and sports field. Lorraine told CBC that builders will be encouraged to work with the provincial government to provide affordable-housing units.

“Whether they move into a brand new, shiny apartment building in our development — which frees up space in another area — that, too, contributes to affordability,” he said.

“When you have an undersupply of any product, which is what we currently have in terms of housing, you’re going to have high prices on rent.” 

Photo: Village of Bible Hill