A proposed 10-storey apartment has one St. John's resident frustrated with the city

A proposed 10-storey apartment building in St. John’s has at least one resident frustrated, claiming the city isn’t following its own rules. Mary Fearon says the building isn’t right for her neighbourhood.

Mary Fearon says the project on New Cove Road is too tall

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News · Posted: Mar 31, 2025 3:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: April 1

A large grey building stands on a lot. — Mary Fearon says a proposed 10-storey apartment building isn't a good fit for her neighbourhood. (Darryl Murphy/CBC)

A proposed 10-storey apartment building in St. John's has one resident worried that the city isn't following its own rules.

KMK Capital wants to build a 107-unit apartment building at 34 New Cove Road, the site of the former MAX recreation facility.

Mary Fearon says she had "mixed feelings" when she heard city council voted to exempt the project from the step-back requirement, which is meant to mitigate the impact of wind, shadow and height.

"Those rules and regulations and policies and procedures are in place to ensure that we're meeting the needs of who [the] city works for, which are the community members, and the city as a whole, right? Not just developers," she told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show.

Fearon feels the city didn't follow its own municipal plan to make sure new builds are appropriate to the neighbourhood.

She wants KMK to reduce its proposal's height and is worried about additional traffic in the area.

"There's lots of available spaces in St. John's right now where housing could be built," said Fearon.

CBC News has asked KMK for comment.

Building has changed

But Mayor Danny Breen says the city has a "robust" engagement process over proposals, and council considers those arguments and other information when it makes decisions.

"In this case, this is a project that I've concluded that's in a very good location for an apartment building," said Breen.

He pointed to its proximity walking trails and amenities like grocery stores and public transit, as well as its impacts to traffic.

A head and shoulders shot of a man wearing a suit. — St. John's Mayor Danny Breen says the city can make exemptions to building plans, but they aren't done lightly. (Darrell Roberts/CBC)

Breen said the city looked at the impact of the set-back and determined there will be a shadow in the evening that will go over the law office across the street and to the cemetery.

"That was the biggest impact from not having a set-back. So council decided not to require the set-back," he said.

He added the city can waive requirements if there is a solid reason given, which, he said, isn't done lightly.

If council had determined a set-back was required, Breen said it would have resulted in KMK eliminating several apartment units.

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"That would have changed the economics of the building," he said, adding that could mean the remaining units are more expensive to rent.

"One thing that I think people should realize is that the economics of building these buildings is changing. It's getting very, very expensive and there is going to be a need to have higher buildings."

Breen said there are about 2,000 housing units currently in various stages of the city's application process.

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