MINTO – Town council has approved the sale of the last remaining serviced lot in the Harriston Industrial Park.
Council also approved a purchase option agreement for two lots in the industrial park in Palmerston at the June 15 meeting.
JW Bauman Ltd. is the purchaser of the 2.74 acre lot in the Harriston facility. The property is located adjacent to Countryside Concrete, another businesses owned by the same company.
Economic development and business manager Belinda Wick-Graham explained the company will be merging the newly-acquired property with its land and constructing a building that will meet lot coverage requirements.
Construction is required to commence within two years of closing, which is longer than the normal permitted timeframe.
“We did give a little bit of an extension on timeline to construct, because this is … a tricky property and it will cost a substantial amount of money to get it ready to build on and it is pretty challenging,” Wick-Graham told council.
“This is our last serviced lot in the Harrison Industrial Park at this point.”
The sale price for the lot is $95,900. With town development charges currently sit at $3.97/sq. ft. and a requirement for 15% lot coverage on 2.74 acres requiring a 17,903 sq. ft. building, the report estimates the Town of Minto would receive $71,074 in development charges.
Warehouse proposed
Council also approved a recommendation to grant first right of refusal to a numbered Ontario company for purchase of lots at 420 and 460 Minto Road in the Palmerston Industrial Park.
A staff report notes the company is looking to add warehouse space in Palmerston because they serve many businesses in the area.
The company plans to construct a 100,000 square foot warehouse and cross-docking facility “with plans to double in size in five years.” The company anticipates hiring 25 employees initially.
The report explains the company has 30 days to decide whether to move forward with the purchase if another offer comes forward for the property. If they decide not to proceed the town may sell the parcel to the other party. The agreement contains a non-refundable fee of $1,000.
“We’ve done this before and it works out very well for us,” noted deputy mayor Dave Turton.
The agreement to purchase the property at $35,000 per acre would result in a sale price of $273,000.
The anticipated Town of Minto development charges on the project would be $397,000.
“The report states the numbed company “is a well-established company and we are hopeful that they will get their approvals in order to move forward with the purchase as they would be a great addition to the Palmerston Industrial Park and the Town of Minto.”
Later in the meeting Wick-Graham noted that by the end of the year all the land in both industrial parks in Minto council could be sold.
She said the looming shortage would be addressed as part of a report on local growth and infrastructure from Minto CAO Derrick Thomsom, which is expected to be presented in the fall.
