| 495 Dundas St Acquisition |
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City secures important downtown property
Woodstock City Council has taken the progressive step of vesting the building at 495 Dundas Street (across from City Hall) for non-payment of outstanding taxes. The vesting process allows the City of Woodstock to become the legal owners of properties that fall more than 3 years behind in the payment of property taxes and show no ability to bring their tax bill up to date.
In Council's view this significant piece of core area property, in the traditional heart of downtown Woodstock, could not be left to further deteriorate due to lack of maintenance. Through securing this valuable property the City itself can better control the site's longer term redevelopment potential and institute a coordinated building maintenance program to maintain the building's structural integrity.
The City of Woodstock strategically views the downtown core as critical component of its long term vision for a vibrant and growing community and feedback from residents as part of our strategic plan process to date echoes this sentiment. Owning this particular parcel will allow the city to preserve this important historical façade and maintain the contiguous nature of the pedestrian shopping experience along this critical stretch of Dundas Street. It will of course also maintain the "visionscape" from Reeve Street.
Ownership of this property provides the municipality the opportunity to influence and maximize future development opportunities through a variety of options which will be evaluated over the coming months. This may include the future sale of the property, the opportunity to parcel the site with a larger development or the possibility of leasing space to potential tenants who would generate activity or additional investment in the downtown core.
For more information please contact
Brad Janssen(519) 539-2382 ext. 4102 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |