Character homes line the street in the 600-block of University Drive along with a church at the corner where the road intersects with 13th Street East in Saskatoon’s Nutana neighbourhood.
Within 18 months Meridian Development Corp. will complete construction of a seven-storey condo on the corner instead.
The project received unanimous support from Saskatoon city council Monday evening, but Ward 6 Coun. Cynthia Block said she’s been on the fence about this since the onset.
“I struggled with the decision but I think it was the right thing to do for our city,” Block said.
Block campaigned on infill and, in trying to achieve the previous council’s mandate of 50 per cent infill and 50 pet cent greenfill, felt the decision was necessary.
“The most prosperous, progressive cities in the world today grow upward and inward and not out ward,” Block said.
Concerns about the condo ranged from changing the character of the area, which has many older homes including centurions, to concerns about parking and traffic and about slope stability given the proximity to the river.
Meridian will begin the project with the demolition of the Faith Alive Family Church.
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