Local developers make good on high school promise

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This article was published 17/03/2024 (408 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The ground is broken on the new Oak Terrace development in Lorette, fulfilling a promise made by two high school friends years ago.

One is into construction; the other, real estate. Put Cam Hardie and Marty Nault together and what you get is 63 single family lots, and a mixed use building with commercial space and a community terrace for residents to unwind just down Dawson Road from the new community centre that is on its way soon.

Hardie grew up in Ile des Chenes and spent lots of time in Lorette, and Nault moved to B.C. 10 years ago after growing up in Lorette. Nault said he still spends three to four months per year in Manitoba with so much family living in town. They attended Gabrielle-Roy School together.

“The plan was always in high school, we said we would both go out and get the experience and acquire enough money to do smaller projects. And this is our biggest one yet. And it was always to come back to the town we grew up in,” said Nault.

“To do it beside the rink you played hockey in is super exciting,” he added.

The new community centre that will finally deliver a new rink, along with a library, community space and more, was a big draw for the developers. Trails are planned to connect to the park area by the new rink, and smaller lots expected to house younger families are facing the sports park.

“My dad was part of the 36-hour marathon [in 2002]. And now their new arena is finally being built, there’s a spray park. The town’s kind of growing in exciting ways, and for us to be a part of that and to have grown up here is really exciting,” said Nault.

Half of the 20-acre property is also planned to be kept as green space with nine acres of forest, plus trails and a pond along the Seine River.

“When I was growing up we would cross-country ski on those trails. Cam goes quadding on the river. So people have been using those trails for decades, and those are being kept,” said Nault.

Nault said he and his high school friend and business partner are filling a housing need in Lorette. He sees their first big project as something to make their mark by creating an integrated neighbourhood with the community centre, park, river trails, commercial space and terrace.

“We wanted it to be something that we’re proud of and the community is like whoa, these guys really put their money into it and there weren’t any oversights,” said Nault.

Tache Mayor Armand Poirier was at the groundbreaking March 8 and lauded the project and its connection to the new building down the road.

“In a few short weeks I’ll be breaking ground on a new community centre, which is just a few feet away from here. It will coincide with this project,” said Poirier.

“And right now in the community, a lot of people are having trouble accepting this, but it’s all about change. And we have to see what change will bring because change means success.

“And these men and women who are successful people today are the ones who are going to help to support us when we embark on our great fundraising initiatives here in a few weeks in order to get that project off the ground just up the street from here.”

Most of the housing area is expected to be done by August, with people moving in planned for next summer.

“We need a lot of housing, and it’s going to be good quality housing,” said Poirier.

The hope is to get working on the commercial portion by early next year.

“We wanted to do it all in one, one to keep costs down and two you kind of get the messy phase of construction all done at once, and then you can have a community that’s all built up at the same time rather than over multiple years,” explained Nault.

Hardie and Nault said they have their eye on more property development in town.