Local News

By MIKE WHITEHOUSE, THE SUDBURY STAR

Posted 7 hours ago

The former St. Joseph’s health centre was sold to a southern Ontario apartment and condominium developer for $1.34 million, The Star has learned.

The sale price for the 4.5-acre property carved out of Bell Park has been the source of much conjecture since the deal closed July 28. Normally, the sale price is listed on the land transfer documents filed with the province.

In this case, however, the “total consideration for this transaction” was listed as “$0.00.”

This, The Star has learned, is the result of some clever legal manoeuvering on the part of the purchaser, Panoramic Properties in Niagara Falls, and its solicitor, Jennifer Ricci, of Ricci Law, also in Niagara Falls.

Using a provision of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the sale price for the property was eventually made available through the Land Resource Taxes Section of the Ontario Ministry of Revenue.

The secrecy behind the deal, and the purchaser’s desire to conceal the price, is curious, a source close to the deal says.

The deal, between the Avila Foundation — a Catholic charity to which the Sisters of St. Joseph’s of Sault Ste. Marie transferred title of all its properties in 2001 — and a numbered company belonging to the Butera Group, the parent company of Panoramic, was consummated quickly last May.

So quickly, in fact, it left city officials and councillors in shock. Until the sisters informed top city managers of Panoramic’s unsolicited offer, city officials assumed it was the preferred buyer for the property.

The $1.34 million Panoramic paid for the property is slightly less than the city’s initial offer of $1.5 million made in 2007. That offer, however, presumed the hospital building would be decommissioned and torn down — whereas Pamoramic’s offer was unconditional, but left the sisters with only days to decide.

The sisters, having received no indication from the city it was interested in the property as is, accepted Panoramic’s offer was the best opportunity to unload a property that would otherwise have become a liability.

The sale price represents a bargain price for such a high-profile property, the source said, regardless of whether Panoramic Properties renovates the old hospital or tears it down.

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According to the 2008 property tax assessment rolls, the market value assessment of the property is $20,210,000. Its assessed phased-in value for 2010 is $19,944,500.

Reached in Niagara Falls, Ricci said the developer has not yet completed plans for the property, has not yet approached the city about its intentions and has no timeline to do so. While Panoramic Properties is maintaining the building, the company is in no hurry to redevelop it, she said.

The company’s website details work it is undertaking on three of its buildings in Sudbury in 2011, but does not list St. Joseph’s among them.

mwhitehouse@thesudburystar.com