City pulls out the stops for quick sale of old hospital

City officials are hustling their bustles trying to fast-track the sale of three former hospital properties on the waterfront.

Unwilling to wait for its next regular meeting 12 days from now, city council will hold a special meeting tomorrow to declare 941 and 995 Queen Street East, as well as 10 Lucy Terrace, as surplus to the city's needs.

"If council declares the subject property surplus, the property will be advertised for sale through a request for proposals that will be found on our city's web page," says Melanie Borowicz-Sibenik, assistant city solicitor.

The city's bunny-quick action comes just eight days after councillors unanimously agreed to buy the three lots for $4.75 million from Leisure Meadows Community Living Inc. and 1667271 Ontario Inc.

That decision followed five years of frustrated efforts by the city's building standards and legal staff to get the old hospital safely secured and maintained.

The deal has now closed.

The city owns the old hospital and its renal unit.

Does the city's need for speed now suggest the derelict property might be rapidly flipped to an eager developer?

"You are correct," Mayor Matthew Shoemaker told SooToday this afternoon.

"We are holding this meeting to officially declare the property surplus, which will allow us to issue the request for proposals (RFP) in the coming days.

"This follows the staff report from the Oct. 1 council meeting, which expressed confidence in selling the property soon after taking possession.

"The quicker we issue the RFP, the sooner the building can be demolished and development can begin, ensuring we stay on a tight timeline for the city to not only recoup, but exceed its return on investment," Shoemaker said.

The special council meeting will take place tomorrow (Thursday Oct. 10) at 4:30 p.m.

It will be live-streamed on SooToday.