The much-anticipated multimillion-dollar King’s Wharf project slated for the

 Dartmouth waterfront will get an official unveiling this week.

Developer Francis Fares, owner of Fares Real Estate Inc., said Tuesday he hopes work on the first phase of the project will get underway before the end of the year.

The economic spinoffs of the project, located in Dartmouth Cove on the site of the former Dartmouth Marine Slips, will be significant.

King’s Wharf, which will be developed in phases, will have a construction cost of $300 million over five years, create nearly 700 jobs each year during construction with nearly $25 million in annual wages, and create $20 million worth of commercial space that will generate about $1 million in annual commercial property tax. The residential portion will generate about $4 million annually in property tax.

The project will have 1,293 condominiums, a 200-room hotel and convention centre, hotel condo suites, 100,000 square feet of mixed retail space and 40,000 square feet of commercial space.

Mr. Fares says he feels his development design will be new to the area.

"It’s like a Bishop’s Landing concept only on a bigger scale," he said.

Bishop’s Landing, developed by Southwest Properties on the Halifax side of the harbour, is a low-rise development that mixes residential and retail components.

King’s Wharf will have taller structures, including a 30-storey condo tower.

Mr. Fares said prices will start at about $305 a square foot for residential units, which will range in size from 700 square feet up to 1,850 square feet.

The developer is optimistic the project will be a success. Its prime location offers total views of the harbour.

"It’s a peninsula on the water with a southwest exposure. We have a boardwalk across the waterfront so it is a community where people can live, work and enjoy the waterfront. A water taxi will link us to downtown Halifax, we are five minutes from the ferry terminal and we are connected to the Trans Canada Trail," Mr. Fares said.

The property, a former marine industrial site owned by the Irving group, has undergone all the required remediation and approvals. "Everything is done and approved and we are ready to start," Mr. Fares said.

Suppliers to the project, investors and local dignitaries will get the first glimpse of King’s Wharf during a private showing Thursday. About 800 people registered as potential buyers will see the design on Friday, and on Saturday the project will be open for viewing by the general public.

Mr. Fares said the feeling in the community for the project has been "very positive."

The first building will have 75 units and there will be "great incentives for the first 40 buyers," he said.

( tpeters@herald.ca)