NEWSWAVE DECEMBER 2009: On November 9, 2009 on a beautiful Kenora day, Qualico Headwaters officially kicked off construction of The Current with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Mayor Compton, city officials, future condominium owners and Qualico Headwaters.

The Current is a 10-unit building located on the western edge of the property and is scheduled for completion by mid summer of 2010. Once construction of The Current is complete, work will then commence on a phased in basis on the other buildings on the property.

Q and A with Barry Hedgecock, Manager, Qualico Headwaters

Q: Barry, how are things progressing with Headwaters?
A: This was our first project of this magnitude in the Ontario market, and there were some unexpected delays that we had to work through. We are now full speed ahead with The Current scheduled for completion by mid summer.

Q: How has the response been to the project?
A: The response from the City of Kenora, the community and those individuals and families who have contacted us about Headwaters has been very positive. Everyone is agreed that Kenora needed a development like this and is looking forward to seeing the project move ahead. We are now beginning to see an increase in interest once again in the project as construction begins.

Q: There has been some question whether this project would ever happen?
A: Because of the timeline required for a project of this size, there is lots of opportunity for people to speculate whether it was going to happen or not. If you were to look at the site activity over the past 9 months however, you would see change pretty well every day—from site blasting, to putting in the shoreline docks, to landscaping the beach area and now to construction.

Q: Are the floor plans and pricing now finalized?
A: On The Current, the floor plans and pricing is now final. Floor plans and pricing are still subject to change on the other buildings however. We want to make sure that the buildings and floor plans we build meet the expectations of the owners, so we are making modifications to better meet these needs as part of the design process.

Q: With HST being introduced in Ontario in July, how do you think that will affect sales of units?
A: We were not happy that the HST will increase the cost of The Headwaters, but anyone looking at a Lake of the Woods property will be affected, so we will all face the same taxation change. Both Ontario and BC are being affected and unfortunately this is something we cannot change, we simply have to adapt and move forward.

Q: What’s on the horizon for The Headwaters?
A: 2010 will be a very big year for both The Headwaters and the City of Kenora. We are very excited about completing The Current and continuing to become a part of the Kenora community. The next few months will provide us the opportunity to show off the development, the floor plans and the detailing with display suites. So this summer is expected to be an exciting time.