Phil Hare stands in the sales office for Kutenai Landing. The realtor will sell the condos for the condo's developers. Photo by Chris Shepherd.

Units in Kutenai Landing are up for sale again and this time the developer has gone to a new realtor in the city to market the condos on Nelson’s waterfront.

Phil Hare, managing broker of Fair Realty‘s Kootenay branch, is in the process listing 46 units of the first building at the Kutenai Landing site on the MLS system, the real estate industry’s online system for advertising real estate.

Hare says it’s good news for the community that Kutenai Landing is back on the market.

“There’s a lot of people that need this,” Hare says of the project. He says there are older couples waiting to move into the waterfront development who want the kind of living Kutenai Landing offers. Hare also says the City of Nelson has been missing out the property taxes it could be collecting on the development, were it complete, money he says could be used to pay for infrastructure projects.

Hare isn’t new to Kutenai Landing; He worked for New Future Group, the developer behind Kutenai Landing, as a sales representative when the condominiums went on the market the first time in October 2009. At that time, New Future tried to sell the condos in house, using their own staff.

When the condo units first went up for sale, it looked promising, says Hare. But delays, largely through the actions of the Nelson Citizen Empowerment Society (NCES), meant the units came to market just as the economy dove.

“[The launch] was delayed by about a year based on this group [NCES] exercising their democratic right, which we have no problem with, but it severely hampered the progress of the development.”

It meant the condos went up for sale during the massive decline in the housing market and sales didn’t develop as Hare expected them to.

Hare says the development is hovering at around $8 million to $9 million in sales. The developer needs roughly $12 million, 50 per cent of the cost of the project, to start construction, says Hare.

A representative from NCES could not be reached. A comment from them will be included in a later version of this story.

Hare is no longer working for New Future Group. Instead he’ll be working as an independent realtor marketing the condos.

New Future had to stop marketing the condos in June 2010 after failing to reach certain financing deadlines in their disclosure statement.

A disclosure statement is a legal document that a developer prepares for the province and condo unit buyers that sets out the responsibilities of the developer and buyer. It also includes several key deadlines regarding financing and building permits.

But New Future released a new disclosure statement on Wednesday, Sept. 15, setting out new deadlines for the development.

Under the new statement, New Future plans to start construction in May 2011 and finish by June 2013. See our other story for more on the latest disclosure statement from New Future.

Hare says he’s impressed with Mike Rink, the principal behind Kutenai Landing, and his tenacity to try and see the development through.

Rink and New Future have faced financial troubles in several B.C. communities where suppliers, contractors and buyers have taken New Future to court to recover money.

In spite of those financial and legal troubles, Hare says potential buyers shouldn’t be afraid of buying into Kutenai Landing. He emphasizes he isn’t privy to New Future’s financial situation, but was free with his take on the developer’s intentions.

“It’s my understanding the developer has tried to set up a payment schedule to pay these people out. He hasn’t turned tail and gone bankrupt.”

Hare has high praise for the efforts Rink has put into the development.

“If you look at the staying power for Mike Rink to stay involved in the project where he’s sort of having eggs thrown at him and beat up in the media . . . I can tell you right now, if it were you or I, we may not be doing this. He’s committed to this project, “says Hare. “I don’t think there’s any developer out there who would put this kind of effort in without the intention of finishing what he’s started.”

Hare says he’s open for business and will set up regular business hours at the Kutenai Landing sales office where he’ll also run his own realty office from as well.

Hare can be reached at 1 (866) 929-3572 or by email at 1philhare@gmail.com.