Prime real estate that used to be home to the Royal Cape Breton Yacht Club on Sydney’s waterfront has languished for years.

But there is renewed interest in developing the land and officials say that is thanks in part to construction of the new waterfront campus for Nova Scotia Community College.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality has received three bids to develop its waterfront property that lies between the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion and the Holiday Inn hotel, marking a distinct change in attitudes toward development in CBRM.

“If there’s three requests for proposals, I think that’s a good sign that the business community is taking quite an interest in CBRM,” said Paul Burt, the municipality’s manager of building, planning and licensing laws.

“There’s some major development and redevelopments going on with health care and education, so absolutely, it’s great news for CBRM.”

Municipal officials assessing the new development proposals did not want to comment.

Spokeswoman Christina Lamey said after evaluations are done, staff will discuss the bids behind closed doors with council and then make a recommendation at an open council session, likely within a month.

Burt, who is not one of the staff members working on the bids, said interest in development has really taken off since the province announced hospital redevelopments around CBRM and the construction of NSCC’s Marconi campus in downtown Sydney, totaling nearly $1 billion.

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