Tag: Real Estate

Public Meeting – Vacant Property Tax Rebate

John Draper

As reported last December, the county is looking at changing the tax system so that vacant stores do not get a rebate on their taxes.  A required part of that process is that public meetings must be held to allow communication to and from affected people.  The required meeting was held on Wednesday March 21 at the County building – only a few people turned up.   At a presentation, County treasurer Glenn Dees explained some of the details.  The change is now possible because legislation passed in early 2017 allowed municipalities to “opt-out” of the rebate program or make other changes.  Of those who requested a change in 2017, 21 of 25 eliminated them immediately of phased them out.  Another… Read complete articlePublic Meeting – Vacant Property Tax Rebate

School Rezoning Meeting gets Heated

John Draper

The gallery was full for Monday’s public meeting on the proposed rezoning of land in New Amherst to allow for a Catholic French language school to be built (see links below for more on the proposed school).  The application for rezoning was first made last November and, with a time limit of 120 days for a decision before the developer can ask the OMB to intervene, the Public meeting was held on day 119.  Although she does not live in the area, Emily Chorley was critical of the process and pointed to her own experience with the rezoning on College Street (see links below).  Residents were also highly critical of both the process and of the planned school.  Max LeMarchant,… Read complete articleSchool Rezoning Meeting gets Heated

Cobourg Commercial Real Estate Update – March 2018

John Draper

Cobourg has a dynamic Commercial Real Estate Market and the Town’s Economic Development Department publishes an update regularly (see link below). Their intent is to help prospective businesses find a suitable location in Cobourg although they no longer provide prices. My intent is to report on what’s happening in this field in Cobourg – that is, what’s news.   Therefore this report provides highlights (only) and adds prices where available. Some properties are of interest because they are Cobourg icons (like the Woodlawn) or already in the news (Tannery property) and others because they have been on the market for a long time.   The properties are grouped by “interest” categories: “Businesses for Sale”, “Still Available”, and “In the News”. Businesses for… Read complete articleCobourg Commercial Real Estate Update – March 2018

Housing in Cobourg

John Draper

There is a shortage of Rental accommodation in Cobourg as shown by the apartment vacancy rate of 1.3%.   But the alternative of owning is not cheap –  house prices are starting to increase again after a peak last May.  There’s action for renters; because of the tight rental market, Cobourg will be eligible for a Provincial program which pays for a rebate of development charges to builders of rental units.  Port Hope is also eligible so they are joining with Cobourg to ask the County to administer the program for them since the County has the regional mandate for social services including housing. More details on Cobourg’s rental vacancy rates and costs were given in this post last December. As… Read complete articleHousing in Cobourg

Stopping Demolition by Neglect

John Draper

The ACO (Architecture Conservancy Ontario) is continuing to try to preserve the Sidbrook building at 411 King East (photo below).  In June 2015, they wrote to Council asking that they ensure full compliance with Property Standards but the ACO now says that they are now taking a multi-pronged approach.  Right now though, the roof needs major repairs.  In a presentation to Council on February 5th, Gail Rayment asked the Town to force the owner to make repairs.  Director Glenn McGlashon responded that the Town is in fact pursuing legal options to force immediate repairs by the owner he but did not divulge any details.  The building has been empty since 2002 and apart from a few forced repairs and a… Read complete articleStopping Demolition by Neglect

More Seniors’ Residence Units In Cobourg

John Draper

Cobourg already has a good number of places that provide housing for Seniors who want a retirement home either with or without personal or nursing care and in some cases needing a long-term care nursing home (see list below).  Victoria Retirement is one of these places and they are planning to add-on 10 units for expansion.  Located in what was once Victoria College, they promote the suites in their heritage building as “spacious and grand” yet they propose adding a single story structure at the rear that will add 10 units with minimal space and amenities (see plan below).  The application for site plan approval will come before Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday January 8th. The plan… Read complete articleMore Seniors’ Residence Units In Cobourg

Rental Apartments in Cobourg

John Draper

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the vacancy rate in Cobourg for rental apartments is 1.3%, up from 0.5% last year.  These numbers are for October in each year.  The average rent for a 2 Bedroom apartment was $1,063 – up from $1,011 in October 2017.  Although cheaper than Toronto, it’s not as much different as the cost of buying a house.  CMHC also reports on the number of apartments and the number of houses being built.  In October 2017, Cobourg had 31 bachelor apartments, 250 1 bedroom, 589 2 bedroom and 61 3 or more bedroom apartments for a total of 931, up from 920 a year earlier.  Note that these numbers exclude “row” houses.  The tables… Read complete articleRental Apartments in Cobourg

Downtown Vacancies – Nov 2017

John Draper

A report prepared by Cobourg’s Economic Development Department has listed all the Downtown commercial units and building lots available for sale or lease (as of 26 September).  Although it’s part of a report that will be the subject of another post, by itself, the information contained is an excellent list of properties that need a marketing effort to get them occupied.  The report of the 26 vacant units also identifies to what extent each is ready for occupancy and use.  Only 8 of the 26 are turnkey and require few if any improvements.  Although the CIP program helps with external improvements, it seems to be not often used for internal defects not visible from the outside although these are in… Read complete articleDowntown Vacancies – Nov 2017