CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The rebuild of a three-storey Charlottetown apartment destroyed by fire in July will have a fourth floor.
The 29-unit apartment complex on Harley Street called The Harold was damaged beyond repair in a July 24 blaze caused by mulch outside a ground-level apartment catching fire and displacing 52 residents.
Dan Sampson, director of property management for Killam Apartment REIT, says construction of the replaced building currently underway will be completed in eight to 12 months.
He says a fourth floor will see the new building have 39 units – 10 more than the previous complex.
He says there will be some change in the configuration of the apartments, but the square footage should be similar to the previous units.
He says the building will be more modern with a larger gym and a “nicer’’ common room.
The complex will also have a sprinkler system, which is a requirement of multi-residential apartment buildings of four floors or more.
Sampson adds all of the tenants displaced by the fire have found other places to live.
He says, unfortunately there was no availability in the 1,200 Killam apartment units in the province.
Sampson says roughly 60 per cent of the former tenants of The Harold have expressed an interest in returning to the new building when it is completed.