Northern Breweries sale falls through

A $511,000 deal to buy the former home of the now-defunct Northern Breweries has fallen through.

The City of Sault Ste. Marie was unable to secure clear title on the Northern Breweries site in time to accept a $511,000 offer to buy the property, says Joe Fratesi, the City's chief administrative officer.

"As a result of title searches," Fratesi said last night, "someone determined that the title to the property didn't match the actual real estate it occupies."

That meant the City couldn't offer a clear title until that error was legally corrected, something that couldn't be done before the purchaser's offer ran out.

In a report to City Council, City Solicitor Lorie Bottos said the purchaser, 2198402 Ontario Inc., withdrew its offer because the opportunity to fund development of the property was no longer available due to the delay in closing the transaction.

The offer was originally made on February 22 and was one of three bids on the property at the time, Bottos said.

"There had been problems with the title to two of the three parcels that make up the entire Northern Breweries site property," he said. "The prospective purchaser was aware of those title issues early on in the process."

The City is still in the process of clearing the title.

To market the property in the future, City Council decided to retain Regent Property Management Limited since that company is familiar with the site.

Several City councillors also wanted to know what was in the building and the value of those items.

Fratesi said the City doesn't have the authority to sell or seize any of the furnishings, machinery or other chattel that had not been installed in the building such that they could be considered fixtures.

Only the property, the building and its fixtures can be conveyed to the City for nonpayment of municipal taxes, which was the case with Northern Brewery's building and property.