Developer should pay city bill with condos, committee says
Owes $300,000, but arts groups could use the space
Published On Sat Feb 06 2010
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/art...pay-city-bill-with-condos-committee-says?bn=1
Paul Moloney
City Hall Bureau
Will that be cash or condos?
A developer who owes the city $300,000 should be allowed to pay by turning over two condominium units in the Queen St. W. development that would then be turned over to arts groups, a city council committee recommends.
The city sold to the developer a laneway needed for the project. The sale price was $1 million – of which $700,000 has been paid.
Normally, the city would demand a certified cheque for the $300,000 balance from RioCan PS Inc., which is building a seven-storey retail and residential building on Queen St. W. at Portland St., west of Spadina Ave.
However, at the urging of the local councillor, Adam Vaughan, the government management committee voted to accept two commercial condo units, each 500 square feet, on the Richmond St. side of the development. City council will make a final decision by Feb. 22.
The plan would see the city put up $75,000 to outfit the units and rent them for $1 a year to the Toronto Arts Council, which would sublet them as spaces for artists and galleries.
"It's a new project for the Toronto Arts Council to try and find a way to find footholds for new and emerging artists in the city," Vaughan told the committee Friday.
Vaughan said it would help the neighbourhood, where land values are "extraordinarily high" and make it tough for fledgling enterprises to set up.
"We want to try to give Richmond St. a bit of a shot in the arm," he said. "We came up with this notion of community arts space to build on what are a couple of galleries already on Richmond St."
Councillor Mike Del Grande, who would normally be against such deals, went along after he said Vaughan made a strong case.
"I personally like clean transactions without any this and that or convoluted stuff," Del Grande said. "But Adam Vaughan came and made a case for it."