Land for sale

Facing a rental vacancy rate of less than 2.5 per cent, the City of Thunder Bay is trying to sell of surplus lands it says could house up to 600 additional units.

Joel Depeuter, manager of the city’s realty service division, said the city has several potential plots of land up for grabs, including acreage on Hodder Avenue, Hudson Avenue and Adelaide Street.

“They’ve just been recently re-evaluated for their highest and best use and are now being marketed for sale,” Depeuter said on Friday.

“Certainly there’s been an increased demand for multiple-residential accommodations and new constructions. It’s been reported lately that the City of Thunder Bay had a very low vacancy rate, the lowest in Ontario at one time.”

While it’s not the bleakest outlook in the province any longer, it’s still an issue that must be addressed. The developers are out there waiting to build, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to help make it happen, Depeuter said.

“We’re seeing at our office and in our interaction with developers there is increased interest in identifying sites and constructing,” he said.

The need is certainly there, said Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation analyst Warren Philp.

The vacancy rate may be slightly higher than a year ago, when it sat at 1.8 per cent, but trends suggest the rate will drop again.

“We’ve seen limited new rental supply, some employment growth in the marketplace and demand coming from migrants that are coming to Thunder Bay from the region and from elsewhere in the country and the world as we continue to slowly diversify our economy,” Philp said.

Philp added that developers in recent years have faced high construction costs, which when married to the rental rates, the economic viability isn’t always there. ‘

“So there’s been a reluctance over the past 10 years for private developers to look at rental housing,” he said.

“Now there are some rumours around town that this may be changing. There’s some small stuff that is happening. But in terms of large-scale development, we haven’t seen that of late.”

Depeuter said the municipal property up for sale ranges from about $250,000 to $830,000.

The city is only seeking fair-market value for the land, knowing it will make it back once fully developed.

“Certainly we welcome the availability of new dwelling units, construction employment and increased tax assessment, to be sure,” he said.