LITTLE CURRENT—The old OPP headquarters building in Little Current was a hive of activity recently, with giant plastic tanks and vacuum trucks joining a massive excavator onsite as workers dug out around the building.
The Expositor reached out to the Infrastructure Ontario/Ontario Realty Corporation (IO), the government agency that oversees provincial government properties to discover more about what is taking place at the building and also enlisted Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Mantha’s office to dig a little deeper.
“Thank you for contacting us regarding the property at 12 Campbell Street East in Little Current,” replied the realty corporation. “The property is not currently available for sale. Infrastructure Ontario is implementing standard property due diligence work to enable future disposition of the site.”
That due diligence included digging out soil contaminated by a small leak in the oil tanks at the building. The giant plastic tank that is most visible at the site is a container being utilized by Milestone Environmental Contracting (a Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation company specializing in property remediation) to collect contaminated water. The size of the tank turned out to be a bit of overkill, but was brought in to ensure it could contain enough volume as the distance to the company’s yard would have involved additional costs.
The work on the building will be wrapped up shortly.
Numerous interested individuals have contacted The Expositor seeking information on what is happening with the property.
Once the property has been brought to standard property levels the property will enter the provincial divestment stream.
According to the IO website, “If no provincial government need is identified, the property is considered surplus and is circulated concurrently to other levels of government, registered eligible not-for-profit corporations, public colleges and universities, school boards and eligible indigenous communities. If any of these entities express interest in the property, IO may proceed to negotiate with the interested party for a sale at market value. This is called a direct sale.”
“Government of Ontario approval is required before any property is sold. This approval is obtained by an Order In Council” (aka the minister must sign off on the sale).
“As of April 1, 2013, eligible not-for-profit corporations that provide a public benefit are included in the circulation of surplus government real estate. To gain access to the circulation, not-for-profit corporations must meet established eligibility criteria and apply to the Ontario Nonprofit Network, which is responsible for maintaining the registry of eligible not-for-profit corporations. Eligible not-for-profit corporations that demonstrate financial and organizational capacity may express an interest in purchasing surplus government property at market value prior to the property being place on the open market for sale. Refer to the Ontario Nonprofit Network website for further information.”
The IO site further notes that “Occasionally, properties in the provincial portfolio that are no longer required for the delivery of government programs and services are non-viable parcels of land that are for example land-locked or cannot be developed on their own. In these cases, the abutting property owners may be interested in these specific parcels. In such circumstances, a sale at market value to the abutting property owner could take place—this is called a Direct Sale.”
Further, “If a property is no longer required by the province, and no other level of government, eligible not-for-profit organization, public college or university, school board or indigenous community has expressed an interest in acquiring it through the circulation process, the property may be marketed to the public by an external real estate broker, through an open and competitive process—this is called an Open Market Sale.”
The “due diligence” requirements cited by the IO “may include, but are not limited to, the following activities: market value appraisals; title opinions; environmental site assessments; archaeological reports; survey; planning reports; heritage studies of the land and building; and a duty to consult with First Nations.”
Finally, “properties that are identified as Open Market Sales are listed for sale on IO’s website and are generally marketed for at least 30 days prior to accepting any offers. You can contact the property’s broker directly or the IO sales manager for information on the property you may have an interest in.”
Properties listed with the IO can be researched online at: www.infrastructureontario.ca.
