PORT HAWKESBURY - Private investors are ready to commit $100-million towards a four-phase housing development in Port Hastings that will concentrate on student housing needs in the early stages. 

The head of Inverness County-based Colindale Business Solutions, Damian MacInnis, held the official launch for the housing project - dubbed "Straitville" - with his partners in the venture on Monday morning in the cafeteria of the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) Strait Area Campus, located on the outskirts of Port Hawkesbury. 

Accompanied by his partners in Independent Investment Nova Scotia (IINS), Dr. George Nwanga and Ken Oguzie, as well as Lindsay Construction project manager Cory Stewart, MacInnis declared that the first phase of construction is targeted to get under way this May and wrap up sixteen months later, prior to the start of the 2024-25 academic year. The resulting five buildings, costing roughly a quarter of Straitville's overall price tag, will provide accommodations for 220 NSCC students on a 53-acre stretch of land on a hillside overlooking the Strait of Canso, adjacent to the Port Hawkesbury A&W outlet. 

While MacInnis and his partners pointed out that the project will proceed safely and efficiently regardless of the level of further investment by the various levels of government or other private contributors, they added that the timeline for the remaining three phases of the new housing development could be accelerated if other funding sources come on board. 

Also on this week's episode of TELILE 24/7, we have three segments from the March 13 Committee of the Whole meeting of Richmond Municipal Council, featuring:

17:18 - Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette, the current chair of the Strait-Richmond Housing Matters Coalition, updates council on the organization's short-term activities for the coming spring. 

19:20 - Gina MacDonald, the Healthcare Recruitment Navigator for the Cape Breton South; Recruiting For Health committee, updates the organization's latest activities in healthcare professional recruitment. 

45:50 - Destination Cape Breton Association CEO Terry Smith previews the upcoming spring, summer and fall tourism season for the island, while confirming that the 2023 tourism numbers were record highs for many sectors of the tourism and accommodations arena in Cape Breton, even exceeding pre-pandemic levels.