An ambitious plan to redevelop the waterfront and punch Coldwater Street through the Metro Plaza, opening up a “viewscape” to the lake, cleared another hurdle Monday night.
Council committee approved a recommendation from staff to proceed with the expropriation of rights that would remove any potential roadblocks to redevelopment. The decision has to be ratified at next Monday’s meeting of council.
When the word “expropriation” is used, it usually means a municipality is taking land without the consent of the landowner.
That is not the case here, says Laura Thompson, the city’s manager of real estate and commercial development.
“The city already owns this land, so this is not what the city is doing in this case,” Thompson told city councillors Monday night. “The city is merely removing the rights of other people so the site can be redeveloped.”
She noted the city retained Robert Wood of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP to help stickhandle the process.
Wood conducted a title search that identified 10 “encumbrances or rights on the municipal lands.” Those include mortgages, leases and easements.
The expropriation process will address those issues prior to the potential sale of the property, Wood told councillors.
“It is a case in which the city is expropriating from lands it already owns in order to remove encumbrances on those lands,” said Wood. “It’s not uncommon for municipalities to do this to allow for the disposition of land and the redevelopment of land just to clear title as it were and to enhance the marketability of those lands.”
The process won’t impact the Metro grocery store - at least where it sits. Wood explained the city is “not going to expropriate from that site” and won’t do “anything to cause Metro to leave that site.”
However, the city “will be expropriating their right to control the development of the adjacent lands, so it will affect Metro … in that they will not be able to veto the redevelopment of the rest of the site any further.”
The process will, however, impact the Subway located in the portion of the plaza that will be demolished. Thompson said the city is working with the business to find a downtown location.
Staff noted leases for the Hock Shop and the Simcoe County District School Board, long-time tenants in the southern portion of the mall, will expire and not require appropriation.
The other “encumbrances” involve access issues to a handful of property owners.
Mayor Steve Clarke stressed the loss of those access rights will likely only be temporary.
“Some of those access rights will also be expropriated to allow this particular process but those same people will be granted that access again under a subsequent agreement,” suggested the mayor.
Wood said the city could choose not to expropriate those access rights. However, if they do choose to expropriate, alternate access arrangements could be made.
Thompson said staff have been working with the property owners impacted to help mitigate their concerns.
In a report to council committee, staff noted the expropriation of rights “will allow the city to move forward with the redevelopment of the subject lands in a time and cost-efficient manner.”
The “preferred development scenario” approved by council in December of 2017 calls for waterfront redevelopment that would “support over 100 townhomes, condominiums and approximately ten live/work units. This scenario could support more than 225 new residents in the downtown core and between 50-100 new jobs.”
In the report, staff said they believe a request for proposals process will likely include a higher volume of commercial space.
“Beyond the development of this site, the redevelopment of the municipal waterfront land is expected to be catalytic and spur new development on surrounding lands, increase investment attraction, and increase patronage of, and employment at, local businesses,” says the staff report.
While the expropriation of rights process unfolds, city staff will continue to work with its consultant on the Request for Proposal (RFP) and Request for Qualification (RFQ) documents. The RFQ is anticipated to be released next month.
WHAT IS BEING EXPROPRIATED?
This is a summary of the rights staff asked for permission to expropriate:
- An easement which allows a private residence to exit the rear of their property. (The city’s solicitor recommends that the city proceed to expropriate these rights while Deloitte, city staff and the city’s solicitor explore options to provide alternative access.)
- Two mortgages which the city’s solicitor expects have been discharged.
- The Metro lease and an associated lease amendment.
- A restrictive covenant preventing the storage of petroleum products on the site which expires in 2019.
- A right of way adjacent to the parking lot on the southern portion of 70 Front Street North. (The city’s solicitor recommends the city proceed to expropriate these rights while Deloitte, city staff and the city’s solicitor explore options to provide alternative access)
- The Subway, Simcoe County District School Board and Hock Shop leases.
