Expiration? No! PRE-EMPTION. Oh. But still?
This allows municipalities to acquire a building as a priority, provided that it has previously been put up for sale and is the subject of an accepted purchase offer.
Affordable housing
The municipal council opened its game during the most recent public meeting, on June 17. Two addresses are in his sights, for different reasons. Let’s start with the first, 94, rue Saint-Charles Sud.
According to City documents, this building comprising 49 apartments “could be put up for sale shortly after its renovation.”
She couldn’t have been more right. A purchase offer was signed on June 1, it has been learned The Voice of the East with the owners Alain Ross and Marc Sakha; we reached them Friday afternoon.
Before going any further, why this interest from the City?
“It’s a site we’ve been looking at for a long time,” acknowledges Julie Bourdon, mayor of Granby.
“If ever the owner [Alain Ross] wanted to sell, we want to be informed, because we could perhaps be interested in buying it to provide affordable housing or PSL [Programme de supplément au loyer] inside, or to let it be managed by the municipal housing office.”
Already 5 of the 49 units will be “affordable,” say the owners. “Affordable” according to the criteria of the APH-Select program of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. They will thus be offered at $900, rather than $1,100 for the other 3 ½ or $1,400 for the 4 ½.
When reading the APH-Select program, it is indicated that these affordable housing units must be “offered at a maximum of 30% of the median income of tenants.”
At 94, rue Saint-Charles Sud, approximately 75% of the apartments will be 3 ½. The remaining 25% will be 4 ½.
Owners not informed of the right of pre-emption
Surprisingly for The Voice of the East, MM. Ross and Sakh learned of the City’s intention to exercise the right of pre-emption… by The Voice of the East.
They had not yet been notified.
An offer to purchase was therefore accepted. “The process has started but it takes time,” explains Mr. Sakha. “The buyer must seek financing to acquire the property.”
In short, the current owners have not yet reached the stage of handing over the keys. However, “the person has already paid several thousand dollars to purchase the property. Lawyers are involved, financing costs are already incurred, it’s going quickly there.”
If the amount of the current transaction has not been revealed, it is at “market value”.
“How does this affect us concretely?” questions Mr. Sakha, who takes care of communications with the City.
We were unable to obtain any details from the City on this subject on Friday afternoon, as the City offices were closed.
On June 17, the City of Granby registered a right of pre-emption on 94, Saint-Charles Sud, or lot 1,009,643 of the Quebec cadastre. (Stéphane Champagne/Archives of the Voice of the East)
“We have to be notified by the City,” he adds. “Because first, we have a buyer who spends money. Then, we commit sums to people responsible for managing the building, in particular to find tenants. […]»
That being said, “whether the buyer is private or whether it is the City, if we are able to receive the price we agreed on with that buyer, if it is sold, it is sold.” specify MM. Sakha and Ross.
“The work is progressing very well”
According to Mr. Ross, the work at 94 Saint-Charles is “progressing very well,” and the apartments on the ground floor and first floor will be available on July 1.
It will still be necessary to finalize those in the basement, which should be ready in a few weeks, at the latest after the construction holiday.
“We are very proud of the transformation that we have achieved, with this building which had remained abandoned for several years,” underlines Mr. Ross. We brought it back to life in an exemplary way. We are very proud to have contributed to revaluing this area of rue Saint-Charles, to bring a slightly more up-to-date and contemporary image.”
Mr. Ross recalls the filthy state the building was in before it was renovated.
“It was completely abandoned, with syringes, vandalism, squatters who occupied the place for years.”
— Alain Ross, owner of 94, Saint-Charles Sud
Preemption does not mean expropriation
The right of pre-emption has been vested in municipalities since the adoption last February of the Act to amend various legislative provisions relating to housing (Law 31). This includes numerous provisions, including that on the right of pre-emption.
Let’s come back to it to explain it in more detail.
The right of pre-emption allows the City of Granby to purchase, in priority over any other buyer, certain constructed buildings — or vacant land — in order to carry out social or affordable housing projects there.
It thus has the power to replace a potential buyer by offering the seller to purchase the property under the same conditions as the third party buyer.
430, rue Cowie
It seems that the City has Saint-Charles Sud Street on its radar.
In fact, a few hundred meters further south, the City of Granby is eyeing another address, namely 430, rue Cowie, located at the intersection with rue Saint-Charles Sud.
The City’s objective here is “to correct the intersection of Cowie and Saint-Charles Sud streets, thus imposing a right of pre-emption for the purposes of public infrastructure, particularly in terms of traffic and parks.”
The city council is moving forward here, with the building currently for sale through a real estate broker, the city says.
