Price of Sault’s industrial land is set to double next week

If you've had your eye on a bit of Sault Ste. Marie industrial property, you'll want to try real hard to close that deal on Monday.

If the city's director of economic development gets his way, the Sault's knockdown-priced developable land will double in price after Monday night's City Council meeting.

Rick Van Staveren thinks the $25,000 we charge per acre of city-owned industrial land is a bargain at twice the price.

On Monday, he'll ask City Council to increase that price to $50,000 an acre.

In 2001, when the city introduced an industrial land development strategy, it bought land from Algoma Steel on Yates Avenue and the south side of Base Line, east of Leigh’s Bay Road.

Roads were built, with water and sanitary sewers to service the industrial lots.

The $25,000 price was set in 2004 and never increased.

Flakeboard (now known as Arauco) built on Base Line that year.

The city still has about 30 acres of developable land on Yates Avenue and 50 acres on Leigh’s Bay Road.

That would bring in $2 million at current prices, but Van Staveren figures we could get $4 million for it, easy.

Here's what other Northern Ontario municipalities are charging per acre:

• Sudbury - $125,000 to $135,000
• Timmins - $40,000 plus any costs
• North Bay - $40,000 to $60,000
• Thunder Bay - $70,000 to $100,000

Van Staveren also got prices from a local real estate firm on the last five industrial plots sold:

• eight acres - $105,000 per acre
• four acres - $108,000 per acre
• 1.5 acres - $80,000 per acre
• 1.5 acres - $115,000 per acre
• 1.6 acres - $97,000 per acre

"A point to note is that all of the properties... are in established industrial parks with full city services," he says.

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