It was less than a week to the deadline, but the deal is done. At yesterday’s special council meeting, the town officially announced the sale of the Waterloo Summit Centre and its parking lot to De Novo Trust Fund for around $3.9 million. Negotiations have been ongoing since November, and there was a deadline of March 28th to finalize the sale. If that hadn’t happened, the deal could have potentially been off the table. Huntsville CAO Denise Corry gave an update last month, and said the hold up was on De Novo’s side of negotiations; the town had requested more information from the drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre before the deal could be signed and they were waiting for that information.
Five bids for the building were submitted in total; three to buy and two to lease for 10-years with an option to buy. The offers ranged from $1.25 million to $3.9 million.
The sale stems from the University of Waterloo backing out of its lease agreement a year early last March. The school was paying around $50,000 a year for the space, and officials say they backed out because the distance between the centre in Huntsville and the Waterloo campus is too far for students. The deal was originally meant to expire this August.
Town council had been looking at a number of different options for the building, some of which were to lease it instead of selling it, but after issuing a Request for Proposal and having a committee identify a number of key factors, De Novo was picked as the best option. The company operates a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, for employers and members of the Unionized Construction Industry and their families. It currently has one location in Sundridge. Some of the programs it offers include a residential program, aftercare, and a nutrition program.
There’s no word yet on when De Novo will take over the building.
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Huntsville to open up bidding for the Waterloo Summit Centre