The Shanley (née Electrohome, 152 Shanley St) | 8 fl | U/C

[Spokes]

Tax sale of contaminated Electrohome site in Kitchener gives property owner $800,000 tax break

Kitchener's effort to force a tax sale of a notorious contaminated site has led to the owner getting an $800,000 tax break.

In January, the city launched its second bid to force a tax sale of the former Electrohome site at 152 Shanley St., which has sat vacant in the middle of a residential neighbourhood for decades.

Property taxes owed on the site at Shanley and Duke streets have piled up, amounting to about $1.2 million by the time of the sale.

The owner, a numbered company, has failed to pay property taxes for years. As well, the city has taken over basic maintenance such as snow clearing and grass cutting, adding those costs to the mounting tax bill.

But the city is now writing off about $800,000 of that bill, accepting the owner's payment of just under $445,000, which was the city's minimum price.
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That effectively means the owner retains his property, having paid about 36 cents on the dollar for property taxes owed.
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"It's incredibly disappointing," said Coun. Sarah Marsh, who represents the neighbourhood.

The property owner's move appears to put the brakes on city efforts to kick-start a redevelopment of the site, as the site remains in the hands of the company that has failed to carry out even basic maintenance.

But Marsh said she remains optimistic that the property will be developed, now that the owner has had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The sale attracted "a lot of interest" from potential developers, "so at this point, I remain hopeful that this property will ultimately change hands and be cleaned up and developed in a responsible manner." She stressed that the city intended to ensure any proposed developments respect the vision for the site, hammered out with community input last April.

The vision calls for the development of the site with a residential building of up to six storeys, with street-level retail. Most residents who live closest to the site signed a petition against that plan, saying a six-storey building would be too big for the neighbourhood.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/919...tax-break/