Demolition credits extended for apartment project on former hospital lands

Two four-storey apartment buildings are going up on the former Sarnia General Hospital lands.

And builders will have another 18 months to take advantage of demolition credits increased from the former hospital’s demolition in 2018, and transferred when the land was sold last year, city council decided Sept. 11.

The credits, worth about $1 million, in exchange for 11,500 square meters (124,000 square feet) of hospital demolition, were set to expire in August and October, said Taylor Whitney, a planner with Zelinka Priamo Ltd., representing Skyline Real Estate Holdings, which bought the property from GFive Inc. in May 2022.

“Allowing an extension of these credits is an important factor in the redevelopment of the lands,” she said about construction of 118 units planned at 220 Mitton St. N.

Council unanimously agreed.

The project was delayed by an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal, since resolved, Whitney said.

The credits will be deducted from the total development charges, Sarnia community services general manager Stacey Forfar said.

Whitney noted Skyline also has built similar “high-quality rental housing developments” throughout Southwestern Ontario.

A building permit for the site was approved in August, with Sarnia officials noting a construction value of $16 million.

Another is expected “hopefully before the end of this year,” Forfar said.

GFive purchased the property from Sarnia in 2017 for $1,000.

The city also gave GFive $5.4 million to help with demolition costs.

The hospital, built in 1896, had been sitting vacant since 2011, and deteriorating amid break-ins and vandalism, turning into an eyesore and prompting community safety concerns.

After leveling the building, the GFive partners sold lots along Essex and Bright streets to homebuilders, and invested $1 million into renovations at the former health unit building at 333 George St.

A portion of the property was sold to the County of Lambton for possible future expansion of the adjacent ambulance station, and another buyer purchased and finished restoring the former health unit building, said GFive’s Kenn Poore.

“We’re excited to see what’s happening there,” he said about the Skyline development.

“We think it’s good for the neighborhood and we’re proud to have accomplished what we did.”

Group members include Poore, Alex Jongsma, Mark Lumley, Charles Dally and the late Marty Raaymakers, who died in 2020.

Details of the property purchase and overall demolition costs weren’t disclosed.

“Suffice to say we ran into a few surprises,” Poore said about demolition.