1. SALE OF PROPERTY - 281-283 CRICHTON STREET

VENTE DE PROPRIÉTÉ – 281-283, RUE CRICHTON

Committee RecommendationS AS AMENDED

That Council:

1. Declare the property municipally known as 281-283 Crichton Street and shown hatched on Annex “A” attached, containing approximately 192.0 m² (2066.73 square feet), subject to final survey, legally described as Lot 10, Registered Plan 111296 being all of PIN 04218-0311, in the City of Ottawa, as surplus to the City’s needs;

2. Approve the sale of the property detailed in Recommendation 1, subject to any easements that may be required, to Albert Nicholas Hock, Robyn Brown and Mark Shelford, for the amount of $385,000 plus GST, if applicable, pursuant to an Agreement of Purchase and Sale that has been received; and

3. That the funds generated from the sale of these lands be held in reserve subject to a review of the City’s Housing First Policy.

RECOMMENDATIONS MODIFIEÉS DU COMITÉ

Que le Conseil :

1. déclare excédentaire par rapport aux besoins de la Ville, la propriété portant les adresses municipales 281-283, rue Crichton, illustrée par la zone hachurée de l’annexe A et ayant une superficie approximative de 192 mètres carrés (2 066,73 pieds carrés), à confirmer par arpentage, décrite comme le lot 10, plan enregistré 111296, PIN 04118-0311, dans la ville d’Ottawa;

2. approuve la vente de la propriété détaillée à la recommandation 1, sous réserve des servitudes requises, à Albert Nicholas Hock, Robyn Brown et Mark Shelford, moyennant la somme de 385 000 $ plus TPS, s’il y a lieu, conformément à la convention d’achat qui a été reçue; et

3. que les fonds générés par la vente desdits terrains soient tenus en réserve compte tenu de l’examen de la politique de priorité au logement de la Ville.

DOCUMENTATION

1. City Manager’s report dated 7 January (ACS2008-CMR-CPO-0001).

2. Extract of Draft minutes.

Report to/Rapport au :

Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee

Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique

and Council / et au Conseil

7 January 2009 / le 7 janvier 2009

Submitted by/Soumis par : Kent Kirkpatrick,
City Manager/Directeur des services municipaux

Contact Person/Personne ressource : Gordon MacNair, Manager Real Estate Services, Corporate Project Office/ gestionnaire, Services immobiliers, Bureau des projects municipaux

(613) 580-2424 x 21217, Gordon.MacNair@ottawa.ca

Rideau-Rockcliffe (13)

Ref N°: ACS2009-CMR-CPO-0001

SUBJECT:	SALE OF PROPERTY - 281-283 CRICHTON STREET

OBJET :	VENTE DE PROPRIÉTÉ – 281-283,RUE CRICHTON

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend Council:

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique recommande au Conseil :

1. De déclarer excédentaire par rapport aux besoins de la Ville, la propriété portant les adresses municipales 281-283, rue Crichton, illustrée par la zone hachurée de l’annexe A et ayant une superficie approximative de 192 mètres carrés (2 066,73 pieds carrés), à confirmer par arpentage, décrite comme le lot 10, plan enregistré 111296, PIN 04118-0311, dans la ville d’Ottawa; et

2. D'approuver la vente de la propriété détaillée à la recommandation 1, sous réserve des servitudes requises, à Albert Nicholas Hock, Robyn Brown et Mark Shelford, moyennant la somme de 385 000 $ plus TPS, s’il y a lieu, conformément à la convention d’achat qui a été reçue.

BACKGROUND

The subject property is improved with a two storey double residence situated on a parcel of land containing a total area of 192.0 square metres (2,066.73 square feet) and is zoned R4 – Residential Fourth Density. The property is legally described as Lot 10, Registered Plan 111295 being all of PIN 04218-0311 and is shown hatched on the attached Annex “A” sketch.

The Regional Municipality acquired the subject property in the mid 70’s together with 293-295 Crichton and 245 Crichton Street for the future Vanier Parkway extension. In December 1999 the Ontario Municipal Board decision was confirmed, removing the Vanier Parkway extension from the Regional Official Plan.

The two residential units had been leased since the property was acquired. As a result of the intention to sell the property the units were not re-leased after the last tenants vacated and both units are currently vacant.

As the Crichton Street properties were no longer required for the Vanier Parkway extension, a circulation was undertaken in 2003 together with 293-295 Crichton and 245 Crichton Street to determine if there was any other need from other City departments requiring the retention of these properties. The Housing Branch indicated interest in the properties for affordable housing and proceeded with their review together with canvassing other affordable housing providers. The Housing Branch considered refurbishment, demolition and rebuild and sell-off to either a housing provider or to a developer on the open market.

As a result of the studies and the lack of interested affordable housing providers to acquire these properties, Housing staff released their hold on the properties and the properties were cleared for disposal.

DISCUSSION

The subject property was listed for sale with Century 21 Capital Realty Inc. and was advertised for sale on Friday October 14^th, 2008. The availability of the property was also listed on the City’s Properties for Sale Web Page. Interested parties were given until October 31, 2008 to submit offers.

Three offers were received and after review the offer from Albert Nicholas Hock, Robyn Brown and Mark Shelford, in the amount of $385,000 was deemed to be the best offer and was accepted, conditional upon City Council approval.

It is the intention of the purchasers to renovate the two units for their personal use.

An appraisal confirms that the purchase price is consistent with current market values for similar types of properties.

The offer is considered fair and reasonable and is recommended for acceptance.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

The subject property does not contain natural environment lands designated as significant in the Official Plan or areas identified in the Urban Natural Areas Environmental Evaluation Study (March 2006). No significant implications to the natural environment have been identified for the proposed sale of this property.

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, Public Works and Services and Planning and Growth Management, now Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability, to determine if the parcel should be retained for a City mandated program. The Environmental Sustainability Division of the Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability Department was consulted with respect to the Urban Natural Area Environmental Evaluation Study and Greenspace Master Plan, and their comments are indicated under the Environmental Implications section of this report.

Only the Housing Branch indicated an interest in the property.

The utility companies were also circulated and no interest was expressed in the retention of an easement.

The following Advisory Committees have been circulated:

Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (LACAC)

Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee (OFGAC)

Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC)

Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC)

Roads and Cycling Advisory Committee (RCAC)

Rural Issues Advisory Committee (RIAC)

Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee (PTAC)

No concerns were expressed with respect to the sale of this property.

The ward Councillor is aware of the sale of this property and supports staff’s recommendation.

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.

The subject property is a viable residential property and under the Housing First Policy approved by Council, 25% of the proceeds of the sale are to be credit to the Housing Reserve Fund.

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS:

There are no legal/risk management impediments to implementing any of the Recommendations arising from this Report.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

This transaction represents revenue of $385,000 to the Corporation. These revenues are to be split with $274,950 to be credited to the City’s Sale of Surplus Land Account and $91,650 to be credited to the Housing Reserve Fund as per the housing first policy, subject to any adjustments at closing.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Attached, as Annex "A" is a sketch showing the surplus property.

DISPOSITION

Following Council’s approval, Real Estate Services Division and the Legal Services Branch will finalize the sale transaction.

SALE OF PROPERTY - 281-283 CRICHTON STREET

VENTE DE PROPRIÉTÉ – 281-283,RUE CRICHTON

ACS2009-CMR-CPO-0001 Rideau-Rockcliffe (13)

Councillor Jellett referenced an e-mail circulated by Councillor Hunter just prior to the previous meeting of the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee (CSEDC) in which he raised issues with respect to a possible future extension of the Vanier Parkway and whether the properties being recommended for sale would be needed in order to connect the Vanier Parkway corridor to the Mcdonald-Cartier Bridge. Ms. Mona Abouhenidy, Program Manager, Transportation Strategic Planning, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability, explained there were two (2) pieces of work done regarding the Vanier Parkway extension. The first was through the work recently undertaken for the Transportation Master Plan, through which staff concluded that there was no additional capacity needed in the vicinity and therefore the Vanier Parkway extension would not be needed within the planning horizon; up to 2031.

Responding to a follow-up question from Councillor Jellett, Ms. Abouhenidy confirmed that, should the extension be needed in the distant future, the City could re-acquire the land through expropriation. She added that the Vanier Parkway extension had been studied as a part of the inter-provincial crossing study and, because it would ultimately be connected to the Mcdonald-Cartier Bridge, it would not provide any additional inter-provincial capacity. Therefore, a new bridge would have to be needed somewhere in the East end with a proper connection to the highway system.

Councillor Bloess believed the idea of the Vanier Parkway extension had long since been removed as an option. He noted that if the designation of the Vanier Parkway were to change, the best way to connect it to the Mcdonald-Cartier Bridge would be via a tunnel under the Rideau River. Ms. Abouhenidy agreed, noting this option had been considered in the past but removed from the Official Plan in 1997 and confirmed by an OMB decision.

Councillor Legendre reviewed the history of this issue in terms of the Official Plan, the Transportation Master Plan and the OMB decision mentioned by staff. Therefore, he was shocked that the idea was potentially being revisited. He maintained that the community needed to move on. He referenced another aspect of the policy, which he hoped would be revisited, and he submitted that when the City acquired properties such as the ones listed on today’s agenda, it should be exemplary stewards of these properties. However, he noted there were no issues in that regard with respect to the properties listed on today’s agenda and he asked that Committee approve these sales and move on.

On Councillor Legendre’s behalf, Councillor Hume introduced two motions with respect to items 1 and 2 of the agenda to direct that the funds generated from the sales be dedicated to the Housing Reserve Fund.

Speaking to the motions, Councillor Legendre noted the Housing First Policy required that 25% of the proceeds of the sales go to the Housing Reserve Fund. However, because the City was badly behind in its housing portfolio, he felt it made sense to allocate the proceeds from these sales to that fund and he hoped Committee would approve both motions.

Councillor Desroches appreciated the objective. However, he could not recall any time where Committee had directed funds from a sale of land to one particular priority or another. He believed this would set a precedent and he asked staff to comment on this. Mr. Gordon MacNair, Manager of Real Estate Services, advised Committee as to the requirements outlined in the Housing First Policy in that, when residential land was sold, 25% of the sale proceeds were dedicated towards affordable housing with the balance going to the surplus sales account. Adding to this, Mr. Kent Kirkpatrick, City Manager, stated that staff typically advised Council to develop policies and to maintain these policies. He recognized that, on an ad hoc basis, exceptions could be considered and approved by Council and suggested this would be an example of an exception, should Committee and Council approve the motions. He confirmed that it was a precedent but that it was clearly within Committee’s authority to make such a recommendation to Council.

Councillor El-Chantiry also appreciated the intent of the motions. However, he indicated he would not support them because he was not comfortable dealing with a policy issue on the fly.

Councillor Wilkinson expressed support for funding affordable housing but indicated she also felt this was not the proper way to do it. Therefore, she indicated she would not support the motion but that she would not object to someone bringing forward an amendment to the policy.

Councillor Deans noted that policies did change from time to time and, because these properties were being used for affordable housing, she felt it only seemed right that the proceeds of the sales go back into the housing fund. She then expressed her support of the motion and suggested Council should look at changing the policy.

Councillor Legendre appreciated members’ views on this matter. He advised that he had discussed the possibility of a policy review with the former Director of Housing just prior to his departure and that staff had been supportive of this. He reiterated that the City’s housing fund was currently very short, that this change to policy would not put Council in a difficult position and that he fully supported the re-examination of the policy.

Mayor O’Brien suggested that the funds be put in a reserve, subject to a review of the policy. As the mover of the motions, Councillor Hume accepted this as a friendly amendment but cautioned his colleagues with respect to following the dogma of the policy.

Councillor Bloess noted the premise was that the properties were providing affordable housing. However, he did not believe these were originally part of the City’s affordable housing portfolio; that they had been intended to be rented at market value but the rents had been reduced as a result of deterioration and/or uncertainty of the properties. Mr. McNair indicated the Councillor was correct in his statement.

Moved by Councillor P. Hume

WHEREAS the disposal and sale of lands at 281-283 Crichton Street to Albert Hock, Robyn Brown and Mark Shelford will provide revenue to the City due to the disposal of this asset;

AND WHEREAS these lands were providing affordable housing for this area;

AND WHEREAS the Housing First Policy established priority consideration to the Affordable Housing Division;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the funds generated from the sale of these lands be held in reserve subject to a review of the Housing First Policy.

CARRIED

Committee then approved the report as amended.