CENTRE WELLINGTON – Council will debate charging $450,000 per acre to purchase municipally-owned industrial land sites like the Centre Wellington Business Park at an upcoming council meeting.
Coming to council Monday in a report prepared by George Borovilos, manager of Economic Development, he explained that this figure was determined following a Market Value Assessment of surrounding communities related to municipally and privately serviced industrial land.
The assessment found that municipalities south of the township can command a much higher price per acre due to the proximity to the 401 while others north of the township tend to charge less because of their distance from the 401.
"Many municipalities are in a similar situation to Centre Wellington and are also running low on serviced municipal and private industrial land," said the report. "Demand and costs associated with servicing land have increased while supply has decreased."
This follows council approval of a tender in April for the second phase of work on the Centre Wellington Business Park, a 40-acre parcel of serviced industrial lots owned by the township in north Fergus. That work is on track for competition by early fall.
The first phase of the project was completed in December 2022.
If approved, a business park handbook has been drafted to assist the clients through the site plan and building permit application stage, and offers to purchase will begin to be accepted in order of priority based on an evaluation matrix beginning in September.
The pricing schedule will be approved by council on an annual basis while a summary of closed sales, and the related status of development will be provided to council on a regular basis.
The full report can be found here.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
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