Report to/Rapport au :
Corporate Services and Economic Development
Committee
Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique
and Council / et au Conseil
04 September 2008/le 04 septembre
2008
Submitted by / Soumis par : Stephen A.
Finnamore, Executive Director, Business Transformation Services / Directeur
exécutif, Services de transformation des activités
Contact Person / Personne ressource : Gordon MacNair, Manager
Real
Property Asset Management / Gestion des actifs des biens immobiliers
(613)
580-2424 x21217, Gordon.MacNair@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT:
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OBJET :
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REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee recommend Council:
1.
Declare a parcel of vacant land situated at 424 Metcalfe Street, described
as Parts 1 and 4 on reference plan 4R-19596, as surplus to the City’s needs;
and
2.
Waive City policy pertaining to the
sale of property at market value and approve the sale of the land, estimated to
have a market value of $5,350,000.00, to Centretown Citizens Ottawa
Corporation, for the sum of $1.00, subject to any easements that may be required, and subject to suitable
terms and conditions being agreed upon by the City's Real Estate Services
Division, Housing Branch and the purchaser, including the option in favour of
the City to reacquire the property for One Dollar ($1.00) in the event of a
sale.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des services organisationnels et
du développement économique recommande au Conseil municipal :
1.
de déclarer excédentaire aux besoins
de la Ville un terrain vacant situé au 424, rue Metcalfe, décrit comme Parties
1 et 4 sur le plan de renvoi 4R-19596; et
2.
de renoncer à la politique de la
Ville en matière de vente de biens-fonds au prix du marché et d’approuver la
vente du terrain évalué au prix du marché à
5 350 000 $ à la Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation pour
la somme de 1 $ sous réserve des servitudes qui pourraient être requises et
sous réserve de conditions appropriées qui auront été acceptées par la Division
des biens immobiliers, Direction du logement, et l’acheteur y compris l’option
en faveur de la Ville de racheter le bien-fonds pour un dollar (1 $) dans
l’éventualité d’une vente.
BACKGROUND
The subject property, which is municipally identified as 424 Metcalfe Street and commonly referred to as the Beaver Barracks site, is a 6,825 m2 property situated in the northwest corner of the intersection of Metcalfe Street and Catherine Street as shown on the attached Annex “A” sketch.
City capital funding for the Beaver Barracks project was committed by
Council in 2004 and confirmed in 2006. Staff issued a Request for Proposals
(RFP) for the Beaver Barracks site in February 2007 and presented a report (ACS2007-CPS-HOU-0010) to Community and Protective Services
Committee in June 2007, which was approved by Council on 11 July 2007. The report committed Affordable Housing
Program funds to the project, City grants and fee exemptions, and the provision
of the land, and outlined the terms of the Municipal Housing Capital Facilities
Agreement with the successful proponent Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation
(CCOC).
CCOC is currently planning 247 units of
affordable housing on the
subject site in two phases. In Phase I, two apartment buildings and two rows of
stacked townhouses around an organic community garden will be constructed. The largest apartment building situated on
the corner of Metcalfe and Catherine Street will contain a new paramedic post
on the ground floor to replace the existing post that is currently located on
the site. In Phase II, CCOC will build
a 7 storey residential building in the location of the existing paramedic
post facing Catherine Street.
The 2007 Action Ottawa report recommended by Community and Protective
Services Committee and approved by Council (ACS2007-CPS-HOU-0010) directed that staff
negotiate the sale of 424 Metcalfe Street, subject to the provisions of the
negotiated Municipal Housing Project Facilities Agreement (MHPFA) and in
accordance with the Municipal Housing Project Facilities By-law (2005) and the
provisions of that report.
DISCUSSION
A
recent appraisal estimates the value of the subject property, based on current
zoning, to be $5,350,000.00. It is also
recognized that a potential rezoning could create additional value. Although the City’s Surplus Real Property
Disposal By-law (2002-38) requires all property disposals to be on the basis of
market value, it also provides means to address the need for affordable
housing, by recognizing housing as a City mandated program and permitting the
Housing Branch to hold City-owned properties for affordable housing
purposes. The Housing Branch can then
make suitable properties available to the community, at below market or nominal
cost, subject to Council approval, through a Request for Proposal (RFP) and consultation
processes.
As indicated previously, CCOC was the successful RFP proponent. Based on that proposal, and based on Council approval of the recommendations in the 2007 CPSC report, the parties entered into an agreement of purchase and sale that will involve the transfer of the subject property to CCOC for $1.00, subject to the City reserving the right to purchase the land back for $1.00 in the event that CCOC decides to terminate the use of this land for the agreed purpose or decides to sell the property.
On July 11, 2007, Council approved
Recommendation 7 of the CPSC report 10 (ACS2007-CPS-HOU-0010), Item 5
(the "2007 CPSC Report") as follows:
7. Staff be directed to negotiate the sale of the property located at 424 Metcalfe, subject to the provision of the right to first refusal to recover the property in the event of sale, and subject to the provisions of the negotiated Municipal Housing Project Facilities agreement and in accordance with the Municipal Housing Project Facilities By-law (2005) and provisions of this report.
Upon review of the 2007 CPSC report and
the recommendations that were approved by Council on July 11, 2007, RPAM and
Legal recommended to Housing that a further report should be brought to CSEDC
so as to ensure that the requirements of the City's "Policy for the Disposal
of Real Property" (the "Policy") are addressed.
CONSULTATION
In accordance with policies approved by City Council on 14 November 2001, the availability of the property was circulated to all client City Departments, including the Housing Branch, to determine if it should be retained for a City mandated program. The Housing Branch expressed interest in the property for future affordable housing programs. The Action Ottawa program was developed in 2002, but adequate funding to support the development of the site was not available until the introduction of the Canada/Ontario Affordable Housing Program in 2005. Staff undertook a number of studies to identify any development issues with the site, including soils, traffic, and build-out potential. The site was rezoned on 6 October 2003, including the requirement that a community garden of at least 600 metres square be provided in any future development.
The Ward Councillor has been made aware of staff’s recommendations.
HOUSING FIRST POLICY
The Official Plan policy directs that the City make land available for affordable housing and give priority for the sale or lease of surplus City-owned property for this purpose.
The Housing First Policy, approved by Council on 13 July 2005, establishes priority consideration to the Housing Branch, in the identification of potentially surplus City-owned property, to be used in achieving the City’s affordable housing program targets. The policy also requires that the Official Plan target of 25% affordable housing, be met on any City-owned property sold for residential development. Where viable, residential properties are disposed of without a condition requiring an affordable housing component, 25% of the proceeds from the sale are to be credited to a housing fund, to be used for the development of affordable housing elsewhere in the City.
In this case, the subject property will be developed with affordable housing, so no portion of the sale proceeds will be directed to a housing fund.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
Disposal of this
property has no implications for the natural environment.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The sale of this property will result in revenue to the City in the amount of $1.00. This revenue will be credited to Sale of Surplus Lands Account.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Annex “A” sketch to illustrate the subject property.
DISPOSITION
Legal Services Branch will bring project
specific Municipal Housing Facility by-laws before Council for approval.
Housing Branch and Legal Services Branch will
execute the Municipal Housing Project Facilities Agreements (MHFA) for the
project.
Real Estate Services and Legal Services Branches will finalize the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.
