Municipality of Chatham-Kent Council have three items on their agenda to kick start 2024, which deal with the future of downtown Chatham.
Administration is recommending the purchase of a portion of the Downtown Chatham Centre in one report and staff is also recommending starting a design process to move the Civic Centre, Library and Museum operations into the former Sears part of the mall.
Chatham Councillor Alysson Storey also has a notice of motion on the agenda for the January 15, 2024 meeting asking for financial transparency and accountability for the proposal to purchase the old Sears building.
Purchase of former Sears building proposed
Administration is recommending to Council to authorize the Chief Administrative Officer and Director of Legal Services to execute an agreement to purchase a portion of the Downtown Chatham Centre mall property from 100 King Street CK Holdings Inc. on the following negotiated terms:
– A purchase price of $2,950,000 for Parts 1 and 2 on the draft plan shown in the photo above, funded from the Building Lifecycle Reserve.
– A buy-back provision such that the Municipality can trigger the repurchase of the property by 100 King Street CK Holdings Inc. at the same purchase price within 18-24 months, should the Municipality decide not to proceed with redevelopment of the property
– An option to purchase and right of first refusal giving 100 King Street CK Holdings Inc. the ability to repurchase the property should the Municipality not proceed with the redevelopment after 18 months, or if the Municipality receives a third-party offer within five years of purchasing the property that it is prepared to accept.
– A parking license agreement granting 175 parking spaces for municipal use in the parking garage and/or the DCC parking lot, along with access rights through the mall property.
– Easements be granted to ensure each party’s access to the loading dock.
– Leasing a portion of the DCC roof to 100 King Street CK Holdings Inc. currently being used for solar panels, along with a right for the Municipality to have one third of those panels moved as part of the redevelopment.
“All of these concepts were thoroughly negotiated to ensure the land being purchased can be successfully redeveloped as the location for the anticipated municipal purposes,” said Dave Taylor, director of legal services, in a report.
“The transaction also ensures that if the Municipality decides within the 18 to 24 month time period not to proceed with this development for any reason, 100 King Street CK Holdings Inc. will re-purchase the property for the same purchase price. Should the recommendation herein be approved, further reports to Council addressing the next steps for redevelopment of the property and approving necessary procurement processes will be brought forward by Administration at appropriate times.”
Read Taylor’s full report, here.
Exploring a community hub in downtown Chatham
Following the DCC report, administration is presenting three recommendations to Council to move forward with exploring a Chatham Community Hub.
The recommendations are as follows:
– Administration is authorized to proceed with completing the Detailed Concept Design Phase for the Chatham-Kent Community Hub, which consists of a combined Civic Centre, Library, and Museum at the former Sears building.
– The contract amendment in the amount of $166,098.97 (including HST) for Project Management and Development Services of the Chatham-Kent Community Hub is approved to Nustadia Recreation Inc. and funded from the Building Lifecycle Reserve.
– Council authorizes Administration to hire a contracted Project Manager – Facilities for a period of three years to support the design and construction of the Chatham-Kent Community Hub, in the amount of $396,000, and be funded from the Building Lifecycle Reserve.
“In terms of available space, the former Sears building currently has approximately 100,000 square feet of space between the two floors,” said Edward Soldo, general manager of infrastructure and engineering services, in a staff report.
“It is not anticipated that 43,500 square feet will be required for administrative purposes as currently exists at the Civic Centre, considering modern office design aspects and other considerations such as hybrid work options. Therefore, there would be ample space to accommodate 35,000 square feet for the new Library as directed by Council.”
Soldo added: “The October 30, 2023 report to Council acknowledged that there is not sufficient space to accommodate and relocate both the museum and gallery areas of the Chatham Cultural Centre, but there is ample space to consider a new modern museum to alleviate the existing space, including storage, constraints at the Chatham Cultural Centre. There would also be opportunities to consider shared programming flex-space options and the potential to add additional space to the overall footprint at the front of the building along King Street.”
Read Soldo’s full report, here.
Notice of motion from Councillor Storey
In her notice of motion, Councillor Storey said substantial investment from the taxpayer will soon be required for multiple, critical large-scale investments across Chatham-Kent including but not limited to replacement and repair of water and wastewater infrastructure, storm water systems, Fire Master Plan, addressing homelessness, emergency, supportive and deeply affordable housing and more.
“It is not clear if immediate federal or provincial funding is coming to Chatham-Kent for most or any of these critical, must-do projects and the Municipality may need to pay for these projects on our own,” Storey added.
Her motion also includes a number of asks for administration:
Read Councilor Storey’s full motion, here.
Monday’s Council meeting is set to begin at 6 p.m. at the Civic Centre in downtown Chatham.
We’ll provide details following the meeting.
