Vacant land on Caron Avenue to be declared surplus and listed for sale

Vacant land at 673 Caron Avenue.

A vacant parcel of land in Windsor will be declared surplus and put up for sale.

Windsor City Council was asked Monday to declare 673 Caron Ave. as surplus after being approached by a potential buyer.

The city acquired the land from the former Lufkin Rule/Canadian Linen Supply in November 2012 through unpaid taxes, and the building was demolished in January 2018.

The land is currently zoned as a manufacturing district, and city administration stated that there is no municipal use for the land.

If a developer is looking to rezone it for another use, multiple environmental assessments would need to be completed, as well as a noise impact study and vibration study due to its extreme proximity to an active rail line.

When asked during Monday’s council meeting if the land could be part of the Housing Solutions Made for Windsor strategy, Commissioner of Economic Development Jelena Payne says administration doesn’t recommend using this land for housing due to the number of assessments and studies needed.

“The property was circulated to all departments within the city as land surplus that’s up for sale is circulated for comments. We did review the property, and administration would not recommend to council that this particular property be put under the Housing Solutions Made for Windsor portfolio.”

Ward 6 Coun. Jo Anne Gignac says this is a valuable piece of land.

“I understand that there are challenges because of the proximity to the rail line, but you know what, when I take the train up to Ottawa and go through Toronto, certainly the apartment buildings that are right on the VIA line now all the way from Toronto heading east... it’s pretty evident that that’s not a constriction anymore.”

Commissioner of Corporate Services Andrew Daher says now that it’s been declared surplus, the next step is to get the property appraised.

“We’ll go out, get the property appraised, and typically we appraise it based on highest and best use, and we’d want to maximize the value of the property. Then we’d bring back any of the proposals or anyone who has put in an offer for the property, and then it’ll be up to council to make the final approval.”

The land will now be appraised and then listed publicly for sale.

If administration successfully negotiates a sale for the land, a report will be brought back to council for final approval to sell it.