Former hospital, land sale does not reflect the true value of the city

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Shortly after the City Council meeting earlier this week, a new sign was installed on the wire fence surrounding the former General Hospital site.

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In fact, it took GIP/GFL less than 24 hours to place a couple of signs on this fence, move several large dumpsters, and put black shielding paper on the wire to help contain the dust.

The City Council approved a staff recommendation Monday that would sell the former hospital and vacant waterfront property to Green Infrastructure Partners Inc. and Ruscio Masonry and Construction Ltd.

The former Kidney building will be sold to Ruscio.

The city paid $4.75 million for three properties in an attempt to take them away from an abandoned suburban property owner and give them to a developer who really wants to build more housing units in Sault Ste. Marie.

A former hospital and waterfront site sold for just $1; $2 million kidney corpus.

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At first glance, this is simply a loss for the city.

But let’s look at the situation a little deeper.

The crumbling eyesore of the former General Hospital will be leveled within 18 months, and possibly sooner, according to a report provided to the City Council and an agreement the city is reaching with buyers. A small crew was already seen on site surveying and drilling midweek.

The cost of demolition is estimated to be another $4.5 million, a cost that the city just offset with the sale of the building, and which the developers will eventually recoup through future apartment sales.

Construction on the kidney building will begin again within the year, eliminating another shortcoming of the top-notch building in Sault Ste. Marie.

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Both companies have stellar reputations and their owners have strong ties to Sault Ste. Marie, this means they want to maintain and improve their reputation and be proud of the community they come from.

The city knew that it would not be possible to recoup the purchase price of the former hospital.

Instead, he is banking on collecting property tax dollars from new housing built and replenishing the city’s depleted housing stock.

Depending on the type of housing built, staff estimates that total additional tax revenue will range from $3.6 million to $20.9 million over a 20-year period, depending on factors such as the number of affordable housing units built. The medium-density scenario would generate between $1.2 million and $6.9 million.

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This is important, especially when the city has been losing valuable property tax revenue to a vacant building for over a decade.

But that’s not all.

While the agreement calls for the city to pick up the cost of installing in-kind services and waive some trash collection fees, building new housing units could also mean additional grants for the city under the province’s new housing unit targets. The number of apartments built will increase to benefit the city, which in turn will provide it with more grants through the Ontario Housing Acceleration Fund. The grant rewards municipalities that are on track to meet their housing goals. Funding can be used to offset the in-kind costs associated with completing maintenance that is often required as a community grows.

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As the former hospital is demolished, developers will be busy drawing up master plans and then applying for planning permission to build on the site. We wait with bated breath for the announcement of these plans.

Although GIP is not a household name in Sault Ste. Marie, Ruscio Construction. We trust that as Saultities they will have the best interests of this community at heart. We’ve seen this in their success in the past, and there’s no reason why they wouldn’t continue that success with this project.

Meanwhile, nearby residents, including those living next door to the former Plummer Hospital, may have to invest in earplugs as demolition proceeds. There is no doubt that it will be noisy and, most likely, dusty.

However, residents of nearby areas should celebrate, and perhaps the noise from the celebration will be louder than the demolition itself. It was something they – and the community as a whole – had been craving for a very long time. It’s almost time.

Elaine Della-Mattia is a political columnist for The Sault Star.

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