Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Town of Collingwood is one step away from approving a memorandum of understanding with Streetcar and Dream to revitalize the iconic waterfront grain terminals.
A committee and staff recommendation to go ahead is expected to be approved by council at a meeting on June 19.
“The partnership between the town, Streetcar and Dream opens the door for us to do more for the community,” said Amanda Pegg, executive director, customer and corporate services. “It achieves the three critical goals including: Ensuring the town maintains ownership of the majority of the lands, it gives the town authority to set expectations and brings greater value for taxpayers’ dollars as it leverages private investment to upgrade and enhance public spaces and meet community needs.”
Key points:
- The MOU includes the sale of a surface area of approximately 0.2 acres of the spit lands by the town to the proponent. This land sale would accommodate the proposed residential development.
- The remaining spit lands (approximately 19.8 acres) would remain under the ownership of the town.
- The MOU includes a long term (life lease) land lease of an approximate 0.8 acres by the Town to the proponent. This land lease would accommodate the revitalization of the silos to create the hotel and other public amenities contained within.
The MOU is a nonbinding document that will provide a foundation for future negotiations of the binding Agreements.
Pending council approval, staff will proceed with the next phases of the project, including planning for initial community engagement and consultation with an intention of beginning active engagement in 2023.
Additional investigative work on the terminals and the surrounding lands will commence, as appropriate and will support the required land use planning applications to facilitate the redevelopment.
Officials say public input and findings from the additional investigative work will be critical in informing the design of the final concept for the lands, which will be subject to council decisions under the Planning Act.
The town’s financial commitment to the project is based on the amounts included in its 10-year capital plan with is more than $15 million.
For more information, view the staff report: CCS2023-03 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – Grain Terminals Revitalization Projec