Tag: Real Estate

Cobourg Commercial Properties – May 2020

John Draper

Although houses and commercial properties are being  bought and sold, the number of buyers and sellers has dropped and certainly in the case of commercial Properties, the number of listings has dropped.  My source of information is MLS listings for Cobourg – previously there was also a listing by the Town’s Economic Development department but that is currently off-line.  Looking at the list below, there are few surprises.  The Woodlawn is still on the market, the Dutch Oven is still listed although if you ask Lauren she says it’s not for sale. New ones are Hannah’s at five corners (King and William), the A1 Taxi property on Densmore and Dimitri’s restaurant on William. And of course the Cannabis operation is… Read complete articleCobourg Commercial Properties – May 2020

Update on Major Projects – Feb 2020

John Draper

Cobourg’s planning department is involved in a number of projects – some move through quickly but sometimes developers are slow to act so projects take many years.   In any event, planning does a good job of putting details and status on the Town’s web site so the public can know what’s happening.  Details are brought to council at various stages – some require re-zoning and can be controversial and others get a lot of attention because they respond to a cause like a shortage of low-cost housing. The Town site has a lot of detail (see link below) and includes details on projects such as the Tannery project, the new strip plaza on Mall property, the new Coastguard building and… Read complete articleUpdate on Major Projects – Feb 2020

Northumberland Mall Changes

John Draper

NOTE: This post is dated 17 Jan 2020. The Mall is obviously ripe for a makeover but Trinity group who are managing the Mall, are not revealing their plans.  Although Mall ownership changed hands in the last few weeks, Trinity Group are still managing the property.  The Mall looks tired since routine maintenance is not getting done and tenants in the Mall are gradually moving out.  There is growth, but not in the Mall proper – the new “strip plaza” in the parking lot facing Elgin is now at the Site Plan approval stage (more here) and new tenants are moving into the outside spaces. Based on what we know so far, we can deduce that drastic changes will be… Read complete articleNorthumberland Mall Changes

Commercial Properties Update

John Draper

Although the buying and selling of commercial properties such as stores and businesses is advertised to business people, residents may also be interested in what’s happening with new owners, new businesses, new construction and other related changes.  Real Estate agents don’t always make their listings public and certainly keep actual sell prices to themselves – I guess it helps with job security. The list below comes from the Internet but it’s not known if an omission means that something has sold or simply been removed from listings. There are two groups of properties tied to personalities:  1) the “John Lee” properties – that is, they were owned by him at one point but are now being sold off – these… Read complete articleCommercial Properties Update

Mall Strip Plaza re-zoning approved

John Draper

There were no objections at the Public meeting on Monday to the proposed minor rezoning required for a proposed new Strip Plaza on Mall property.  The developer is Trinity Development group with design by MHBC – both were represented at the meeting.  The new building would be at the corner adjacent to the Strathy road lights with its rear boundary on Elgin Street.  There will be provision for a banking institution, a drive through restaurant and four other retail stores.  The Developer is describing the space for a bank in neutral terms but the zoning at the mall allows only one “financial Institution” and since the Bank of Nova Scotia is currently in the Mall, while that is there, no… Read complete articleMall Strip Plaza re-zoning approved

More Details on New Hotel Provided at Public Meeting

John Draper

Plans to build a Holiday Inn Express Hotel were first made public in September (see link below) with the next stage a public meeting which was held on November 4th.  The new hotel will be four stories with 82 rooms and will be built on an extension of DePalma Drive alongside Home Depot.  The original application for rezoning asked for a number of exemptions including less than required parking and less than required landscaping.  However, by the time of the public meeting, these concerns were resolved leaving only the rezoning to allow a hotel.  Since both the County and Town’s Official Plans allow hotels in this location, this would seem to be merely a formality.  No objections were raised at… Read complete articleMore Details on New Hotel Provided at Public Meeting

CIP grants and Loans for 2019 announced

John Draper

The intent of the Downtown Community Improvement Program (CIP) is to provide money incentives for the upgrade of Downtown properties so that Downtown would become more attractive and prosperous.  The first grants and loans were in 2016 and they have been disbursed each year since then. (See reports below).  For 2019, there will be only one intake (instead of 2 in previous years) and the budget decreased from $150K to $75K.  In addition, there will be an increased focus on larger projects like the one in 2018 at 35 King (Cheslers) which added new apartment units.  Another criterion is high leverage – that is, where the total project costs a significant multiple of the amount granted.  Note that the cost… Read complete articleCIP grants and Loans for 2019 announced

A Couple of Interesting Developments

John Draper

There was a public meeting last Tuesday to get input on Public thoughts on a development at 900 Division street (which also uses address 9 Elgin Street east) and separately, at the next Council meeting on September 9, Trinity Development Group who manage the Northumberland Mall property are asking for rezoning for part of their land. The 900 Division Street rezoning was approved and will be confirmed at the September 9 meeting but the change at Northumberland Mall will require a public meeting – it’s currently at an early stage.  The 900 Division street  re-zoning was to allow the conversion of an existing building on the corner property into a Medical Clinic to provide space for up to eight doctors. … Read complete articleA Couple of Interesting Developments