Company wanted financial aid for housing project
Mar 13, 2009 - 10:15 AM
By Keith Gilligan
DURHAM -- A developer planning to construct a 566-bedroom student residence has been turned down for financial relief by Durham Region.
By a 16-9 vote, Regional councillors rejected a request from Dundurn Edge Developments to defer payment of development charges on the $27-million project for five years.
Following the vote, Carlo Di Gioacchino of Dundurn said his plan is to "go back to the City of Oshawa and see what we can do to get the project launched. We want to do something in Oshawa. Right now, we're looking for a way to get the project done in Oshawa. That's my focus.
"Unfortunately, the biggest benefactor doesn't want to find a way to put in the project," Mr. Di Gioacchino said.
The six-storey building would be in Oshawa on Simcoe Street, near Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
The City of Oshawa has already agreed to forgo property taxes of about $2.7 million for about five years. That money would be used to clean contaminated soil on the site, he said.
Dundurn would pay the development charges in five years, with interest, Mr. Di Gioacchino told councillors. It would total about $1.5 million.
"The credit market has tightened up considerably since we launched the program," Mr. Di Gioacchino said, in explaining why Dundurn wants the DCs deferred. "We've offered to repay the development charges within five years, with interest."
"We, as the Region, are not financiers," Clarington Mayor Jim Abernethy said. "That's the responsibility of the bank. The developer is asking us to finance this project. It's not what our business is."
"Things have changed. These are extraordinary times. In times of difficulty, we have to invest in things that do good. A university does good," Oshawa Councillor John Henry said.
"What is the fallout if we do it for one. If we do it for one, we'll get request after request after request," said finance committee chairwoman and Scugog Mayor Marilyn Pearce.
"It's against everything we've done here," she said. "It's not the first time we've gone through a recession. It's not the first time we've been asked to forgive development charges."
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