BURLINGTON A modest-sized billboard for a new condo and hotel on Burlington's waterfront had been up less than 24 hours, when project developer Charles Mady discovered there were more than 340 potential buyers lining up online to register for one of the 170 condos.

"This property is special," said the veteran developer. "How many places can you build directly on the water, but also be downtown?"

The $200-million Burlington Bridgewater project on Lakeshore Road, at the foot of Pearl Street, was officially launched Tuesday. It features two condo towers of 22 and seven storeys, an eight-storey hotel, 11,000-square-feet of retail, three levels of underground parking and an outdoor plaza that will connect to the waterfront trail.

It's hoped a sales centre will be up early next year and that ground will break late 2014. Condo units are expected to start at $500,000 and hit $3 million.

"We all expect this development to become Burlington's crown jewel," said Mady, CEO of Mady Development Corporation.

Negotiations are still going on with hotel operators, but Mady is committed to landing a four-star brand.

The project has been more than 20 years in the making and not without controversy.

The 1.68 site, in what has been designated the Old Lakeshore Road precinct, was once home to an ice cream shop and the Riviera hotel, which was built in 1964 and changed very little before it was demolished last year.

Next door is the Ascot Motel, and beside that Emma's Backporch and the Water Street Cooker that date back to the early 20th century as the Estaminet hotel.

Real estate investor Matt Jaecklein says people called him crazy when he started buying up the properties 20 years ago. Even Burlingtonians didn't see the value in their waterfront back then, he says.