The topic of development came up this morning as CKTB's roundtable road trip continued in St. Catharines.
The city is still waiting on four major sites to be redeveloped.
The sites on the radar are; the old hospital site on Queenston Street, The old GM site on Ontario Street, The old Hotel Dieu on Ontario Street, and land out in Port Dalhousie.
St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik was a guest on the program and says, "I understand the frustration from the public's perspective but these are all private properties and we're pushing as hard as possible."
Residents around the old hospital have been complaining about people living in the building for some time. Sendzik says right now financing is the big issue for the current owners, "They are looking for a finanical partner that will be able to accelerate the development that they want to place there." He adds, "we're hopeful that once the financing is locked in that development will start to take place. Were told the demolition of the building will take place sooner rather than later."
Over on Ontario Street, the old GM site has been in limbo with part of it being demolished. Bayshore Groups owns the property and Sendzik says it is getting close to a point where the city can take new measures, "at the three year mark when someone hasn't paid their taxes the city has the opportunity to go to tax sale and they (Bayshore) are getting very close to that timeline. Until that time is reached the city can only make sure the property is being kept secure."
Also on Ontario Street, the Mayor says there are some good signs over at the old Hotel Dieu site, "They have the trailer up, they had the surveyors in yesterday the large trucks are going to show up and they are going to start dig the foundation soon."
In Port Dalhousie the plans to build a 14-storey condo building have been put on hold as the company that owns the land has gone into receivership. Sendzik says the financial model didn't work for the current owners, "they are looking for a group of investors that can take over the property."