The Uptown Property Group is aiming to complete its newest project by March 2013.
The company is starting to work on Queen's Park West, a four-storey office building that will be located at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Fifth Street.
"Market conditions support the construction of a new office building in Uptown," said Bart Slotman, vice-president of the Uptown Property Group. "With this unique project, we look forward to being able to meet the demand from local businesses for first-class office space."
The Uptown Property Group believes that the new building will change the resi-dential character of the 500 block of Sixth Avenue and will extend commercial activity one block east from Sixth and Sixth, a key intersection in the city.
"We are pretty excited about that building," Slotman said. "Our buildings are pretty much full. We really look forward to bringing that project online."
Two heritage houses that had been located on the site have been relocated to other locations in the city.
Excavation of the one-level underground parking lot is now underway at the Sixth Avenue site. The underground parking lot will be interconnected to the existing parking offered in Westminster Centre.
While the lane between the site and the mall is currently closed to traffic, it will be reopened in about three months and traffic access to the lane will be restored.
"It's a steel building," Slotman said. "We should see the steel frame being erected in September. That will go up in about two weeks."
The Queen's Park West project was put on the backburner while the Uptown Property Group dealt with other matters, including the office tower it had proposed to build above the city's civic centre on Columbia Street. Since withdrawing from that project several months ago, the company now has more time to devote to other endeavours.
"It's going to be a good addition. We know the demand for office space is there," Slotman recently told The Record about Queen's Park West. "It's good for the uptown. I think it will be very well received."
According to a press release from the Uptown Property Group, the design for Queen's Park West blends a traditional building exterior with contemporary interior finishes and modern building systems.
"The stone and brick façade respects the historic character of the adjacent Queen's Park neighbourhood, while the building's interiors are designed to meet the needs of today's businesses," Slotman said.
Queen's Park West will be the third office building developed by the Uptown Property Group in the city's uptown. The company also owns and managers several commercial buildings in the area, including Westminster Centre.
