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CTV News
2 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Major expansion to Sault Ste. Marie's waterfront clears key hurdle
City council greenlit a waterfront redesign Monday featuring an urban beach, to be funded through a hotel tax increase. Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual City council has approved a multimillion-dollar plan to revitalize Sault Ste. Marie's waterfront, with an urban beach along the St. Mary's River as its first priority. Concerpt art - Sault urban beach Concept art showing the City of Sault Ste. Marie's vision for an urban beach along the St. Mary's River. (Supplied/City of Sault Ste. Marie) The 'Waterfront Design Master Plan,' passed last Monday night, outlines a $17-million facelift for Clergue and John Rowswell parks, which city officials describe as underutilized assets along the river. Travis Anderson, the city's director of tourism and community development, said the initial phase — featuring a destination playground, urban beach and river pool — is expected to draw the largest number of visitors. 'That's where we're looking at doing the destination playground, as well as the urban beach and the river pool,' Anderson said. Some councillors raised concerns about the cost, but the plan was approved with assurances that no municipal tax dollars would fund the project. Instead, council greenlit a two-per-cent increase to the municipal accommodation tax, with the additional revenue – estimated at up to $900,000 annually – dedicated to the initiative. The city plans to use those funds to leverage government and private-sector financing. Mayor Matthew Shoemaker emphasized a phased approach. 'You don't have to do everything all at once if there's not funding available from upper levels of government for every aspect of the project,' Shoemaker said. 'Try and take what you can off the list and keep working on the next thing.' Sault Waterfront The Sault Ste. Marie waterfront on June 3, 2025. (Cory Nordstrom/CTV News Northern Ontario) The parks are popular in winter, and the plan includes potential upgrades to the skating trail to adapt to warmer winters. The broader vision is to transform the area into a year-round attraction. 'There's a reason why communities like Toronto have urban beaches – they've got three or four of them,' Shoemaker said. 'Having a place downtown where you can enhance somebody's stay is really a value add to the tourism sector. And it helps retain that quality of life that we like to advertise here in the Sault.' Concerpt art - Sault waterfron Concept art showing the City of Sault Ste. Marie's vision for revitalizing its waterfront. (Supplied/City of Sault Ste. Marie) Anderson said city staff will use accommodation tax revenue this year for engineering work, including a detailed design plan and community engagement. The city will then seek third-party funding, aiming to break ground on the urban beach within two years.
CTV News
7 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Group looking for buyers for Sault mall ‘excited' about the opportunity
While it's been a tough few years for the Station Mall in Sault Ste. Marie, the real estate group seeking buyers says it's an attractive property for many prospective owners. While it's been a tough few years for the Station Mall in Sault Ste. Marie, the real estate group seeking buyers says it's an attractive property for many prospective owners. Since 2017, the mall lost two of its anchor tenants – Walmart and Sears – and struggled with many other malls as shoppers worldwide increasingly went online, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. sears Liquidation sales begin at 54 locations across the country, including at the Station Mall in Sault Ste. Marie. A sale to SM Holdings in June 2022 for $30 million floundered when the group failed to pay $18 million of a take-back mortgage due in June 2024 to Algoma Central Corp., the original mall owners dating back to the 1970s. 'A court order imposed a deadline of Jan. 16, 2025, for the full mortgage amount, including accrued interest, to be paid,' Algoma Central said in an update to shareholders. 'The repayment deadline was not met and the court has ordered commencement of receivership proceedings to recoup the mortgage.' B. Reilly Farber was appointed receiver. In turn, it selected CBRE, a commercial real estate firm, to take the lead in lining up potential buyers for the mall. Station Mall has around 475,000 square feet of space that can be leased on 35 acres of downtown property on the waterfront along the St. Marys River. Station Mall announced $60M redevelopment In an interview with CTV News, CBRE vice-chairman Mike Czestochowski said while building new commercial properties right now is a major challenge because of costs, finding buyers for older retail is a much easier sell. Properties such as the Station Mall are more attractive because the infrastructure is in good condition. 'All that's happened has strengthened older retail,' Czestochowski said. 'The mall itself is in really good shape. It's being managed by CBRE and when we walked through it, I was pleasantly surprised at how good everything looked -- it's in really good shape.' The mall also has zoning in place to allow for redevelopment opportunities, including residential and commercial uses. Lauren White, an executive vice-president with CBRE, said the property has been on the market for a couple of weeks. 'We haven't set an offer date yet – we'll probably do that in the coming weeks,' White said. 'It's early in the process, but we are happy with the level of activity so far.' 'The mall itself is in really good shape. It's being managed by CBRE and when we walked through it, I was pleasantly surprised at how good everything looked -- it's in really good shape.' — CBRE vice-chairman Mike Czestochowski Once an agreement is in place, she said the sale would have to receive court approval. Czestochowski said that usually the likely buyer emerges as the process unfolds. 'In most cases, it's pretty clear,' he said. 'By the time you go through the process, multiple rounds of offers, generally, someone stands out. By the end of it, we know who is best suited and is one to pay the best price for the mall.' Currently, almost 54 per cent of the mall is vacant, but that figure is largely driven by the absence of the two anchor tenants, Sears and Walmart. Czestochowski said when dealing with potential tenants, it's often easier to rent large spaces than smaller ones. 'When I see big chunks of empty space, I'm not as worried – I'm more worried about 1,000 square feet than I am about 50,000 square feet,' he said. 'Fifty thousand doesn't come along very often. So the tenants that would fill that space … really take note when space like this comes up in a mall that's so well located.' Station Mall The owners of Station Mall in Sault Ste. Marie are keeping tight-lipped about their plans for the former Sears store. (Mike McDonald/CTV News) While CBRE wouldn't sign leases on behalf of the mall, they are speaking with potential tenants about the opportunity to lease. 'We're not as concerned about that vacant space,' Czestochowski said. 'We feel that with proper marketing and discussions, we can fill it.' White added that they're having ongoing discussions with potential tenants interested in the Station Mall. And Sean Comiskey, a senior vice-president with CBRE, said with strong ownership in place, he's confident in the mall's prospects. 'Tenants, you know, in the past may not have liked the partnership and therefore may have bypassed the space for another piece of space in the market,' Comiskey said. 'With a good operator in place. We don't see this vacancy lasting too long.' For his part, Czestochowski said they are happy to have the opportunity to help revive the mall. The company has a history in the Sault, and on a personal level, he has family who live in the city. 'I can tell you, when I got the call from the receiver to put forth a proposal, I was excited,' he said. 'I knew that it would generate a lot of interest … So at this point, we're very happy with the activity level and we're happy to have the listing.'
