Condos will also be a part of Water Street east project.

Spa at the Monastery and Suites owner Paul Madden admits he’s a little “off balance” these days, working long hours and even weekends. But he has reason to be – he’s in the midst of a large new development.

Madden has just aquired the former Matchless Paint and Standard Manufacturing buildings at the corner of Water Street and Temperance Street in St. John’s, and has big plans for the site.

He’s going to have the current buildings demolished and replace them with a 100-suite hotel, along with some condominium units. “It’s absolutely the most beautiful property to develop within the city. It has a gorgeous view which will never be lost,” he told The Telegram Sunday.

The Water Street east property has a view of the harbour and The Narrows. Madden figures the finished property will be worth about $25 million. The condos will be approximately 1,350 to 1,400 square feet each, underground parking, while the hotel will likely include a fine-dining restaurant, boutiques and spa.

Madden said he is in consultation with a number of large hotel chains, but if a deal doesn’t pan out, there are prominent businesspeople interested in getting in a stand-alone hotel.

The current buildings were shut down about 10 years ago, after being in operation for close to a hundred years, Madden said. “It’s starting to become an eyesore for the traffic coming in and out of the waterfront through the The Narrows.”

Madden said he expects to see a revitalization of the east end of downtown in the near future, and knows of at least two more development plans in the progress for the area.

Condos will mesh well with the site because of the elevation and zoning of the location, he said. “There seems to be a pretty hot market for condominiums, and things seem to be very good in the downtown area, and it gives an opportunity to bring some residences back in the downtown,” Madden said. “That’s one thing the city has been lacking a little bit – a residential component in the downtown area.”

Construction is expected to begin on new site in May or June, Madden hopes everything will be complete by the spring or summer of 2006. He hopes the development will generate about 150 new, full-time jobs, not including the labour involved in the construction phase.

In late 2003 Madden bought Capt. Murphy’s Boat Tours in Witless Bay, and plans to build a restaurant and 15-20 – room hotel at the site.

In 2000, he turned the former Irish Christian Brothers monastery in St. John’s into a spa, and last May renovated the adjoining former Alexander Street school into a 21-room hotel.

By Tara Bradbury, The Telegram, Monday