Anybody hoping to personal a slice of Lake Ontario is likely to be completely happy to know that it simply turned a bit extra inexpensive — nicely, inexpensive within the relative sense.
Frenchman’s Bay, a 134-acre bay positioned in Pickering simply up the shoreline from Scarborough Rouge seashore, together with a 34-acre swath of Lake Ontario got here available on the market late final 12 months with an asking worth of $60M. However as of final week, that worth dropped all the way down to $40M.
Listings on this tens-of-millions-of-dollars worth vary can take fairly a very long time to promote — the client pool is usually extremely small in comparison with your common itemizing — so it remaining available on the market only a handful of months after it was first listed is not wholly stunning. However on this case, there hasn’t been an absence of provides.
When the Frenchman’s Bay itemizing first got here available on the market, the Metropolis of Pickering expressed considering buying it, together with the neighbouring 591 Liverpool Street — a six-acre industrial property housing the bay’s marina service which was listed concurrently for $20M.
The Metropolis undertook a market evaluation, led by KPMG, to appraise the truthful market worth of the land, the Metropolis of Pickering’s web site particulars. Upon completion, the Metropolis made a suggestion for $30M, which the location’s proprietor, Pickering Harbour Firm, rejected. The Metropolis then proposed shopping for solely the bay “and a portion of the japanese spit lands,” which Pickering Harbour Firm additionally rejected.
“We are extremely disappointed that we were unsuccessful in our bid to acquire Frenchman’s Bay at this time, because we feel that it belongs in the public realm,” Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe mentioned in November. “Frenchman’s Bay is our shimmering jewel, and regardless of its ownership, we will continue to do what we can to protect this beloved asset from environmental degradation as well as inappropriate development, while also ensuring that it remains open and accessible for our community’s enjoyment.”
No matter purchaser does choose up the property will get to personal a uncommon piece of historical past. In Canada, our bodies of water are usually owned by the Crown, however again in 1853 — 14 years earlier than Canadian Confederation — Queen Victoria gave royal assent to an act incorporating Pickering Harbour Firm, thereby giving the corporate the deed to Frenchman’s Bay, which included possession of the land beneath and out into Lake Ontario.
Due to this, Pickering Harbour Firm was given unique use of (and the precise to cost for entrance into) the waterway. Though the constitution has obtained some challenges over time, it stays in place to today.
As uncommon as that could be, maybe probably the most surprising a part of the property is that the waterways are literally zoned for residential use, that means they’re ripe for a developer to come back in and construct a group of floating properties. The truth is, it is what the itemizing closely advertises.
On its web site, the Metropolis of Pickering says that “it will be important that Frenchman’s Bay and the encircling lands be in public possession to be able to safeguard from aggressive and overly bold growth proposals.”
“The Metropolis is dedicated to preserving the distinctive character of its waterfront, and has efficiently rejected growth functions previously,” the location reads. “Shifting ahead, employees and Council will maintain some other waterfront growth functions to the identical rigorous requirements.”
