Century 21 chosen to find buyers for city land worth $4 million

A city evaluation committee has selected Century 21 Choice Realty Inc. to market millions of dollars worth of municipally owned industrial property in Sault Ste. Marie.

Century 21 was selected over Re/Max Sault Ste. Marie Realty Inc., by a committee made up of staff from the city's purchasing, economic development and community development and enterprise services departments.

At a meeting tonight, City Council is expected to award the job to Century 21 for three years with an option for an additional two years if both parties agree.

"The city recognizes the need to better promote the availability of industrial property owned by the city," says Karen Marlow, manager of purchasing.

"Currently, city-owned properties are only available for sale upon request and are not posted in the public domain."

"The professional services are to provide real estate listing services through expanded market domains (websites, publications etc.) and brokerage expertise to manage the listings, and engage with potential clients," Marlow says in a report to Mayor Christian Provenzano and councillors.

"Funds could be utilized for further development and stimulate growth in the Sault."

Last July, City Council decided our industrial land was seriously undervalued and doubled its selling price to $50,000 an acre.

At that time, the city had 30 acres of developable land on Yates Avenue and 50 acres on Leigh’s Bay Road.

Tonight's City Council meeting will be livestreamed on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m.