Genosha project a go
Council approves $1.4M in grants, loans for hotel reno
The Genosha Hotel has been purchased by Bowood, a development company that aims to transform it into apartment units on the top five floors and commercial units on the ground floor.
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
Oshawa residents won’t have long to wait before they start seeing some changes to the Genosha Hotel.
Following council’s approval of a package that will net developer Bowood Properties nearly $1.5 million in assessment grants and other loans under the city’s Central Business District Renaissance Community Improvement Plan, (CIP) they hope to get work underway by the middle of August.
“We have certain things to do to mobilize the site to get ready for winter, as we’re going to be building through the winter,”
Tracy Christie, president of Bowood, says his company will have the renovated Genosha open by next year.
says Tracy Christie, the president of Bowood.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge ahead of us and we’d like to get under renovations as quick as possible,” Christie adds.
The building’s new owner says work is expected to last between 12 and 14 months, although the city has opened the window for completion of the project until March 2017.
According to Paul Ralph, the city’s commissioner of development services, the project will need regional approval for the construction to begin. However, he says a letter has been drafted requesting the region to allow some of the work to begin, such as fixing windows.
A response is expected from the region sometime next week, Ralph says.
It was all optimism during a special meeting of council on Monday, as councillors and members of Heritage Oshawa celebrated what looks to be a new a new era for a building that has become a contentious eyesore in Oshawa’s downtown.
“This has been a real stickler for us,” says Councillor Nester Pidwerbecki, mentioning the various previous attempts to renovate the heritage property.
The latest attempt was in 2009, when soon-to-be former owner Richard Senechal and partners attempted to adapt the building into student apartments. The project fell through a couple years later.
Pidwerbecki says he thinks this time around will be different.
“These people are very sincere. They’re coming forward with a good idea, a good plan of what they want and how they’re going to structure it and what’s going into the building…I’m very confident that this is the one we’re going to hit the home run with here in Oshawa.”
Bowood’s proposal will see the Genosha repurposed into 66 apartments – 40 one bedrooms and 26 bachelor units in the top five floors – with the ground floor being reserved for commercial tenants. An estimate for the renovations pegs the cost around $8.5 million.
For Mayor John Henry, who says he heard many concerns about the Genosha while campaigning for his reelection last October, this project is a symbol of what is happening all across the city.
“It’s been a challenge for years,” he says. “I’m happy that we’re able to move along and I’m really excited…It will be a key part of our downtown. It truly is the last piece in the puzzle.”
Henry is also not concerned with the building’s history of failed redevelopments.
“Oshawa is very much different and progressions as a community, and we’re expanding and it’s a place to be,” he says.
Diane Stephen, chair of Heritage Oshawa, also is not concerned with the building’s past, saying the committee is “comfortable” with the current situation.
“Lots and lot of things are happening in the city and I think the Genosha will be one of the anchors for the improvement of the downtown core,” she says.
The long rebuild ahead
As bright as the optimism shone at city hall, it did nothing to improve the rundown building sitting at the corner of King and Mary streets only a few blocks away.
A drive-by look to even the untrained eye can point out various issues that fixing won’t come cheap.
According to Bowood’s proposal for the property, the entire roof will need to be replaced, along with the brickwork making up the parapet at the top of the building.
Both facades on King and Mary will need to be stripped and weather-proofed, and approximately 130 windows, or nearly every window in the place, will need to be ripped out and replaced with new custom-fitted glass. The decorative limestone around the exterior also needs replacing.
And that’s just the outside.
Inside, both elevators will need to be replaced to meet current building code standards.
Plumbing, electrical and gas systems will all need to be replaced.
“It’s a complete retrofit of that exiting building,” Christie says.
During the previous renovation, asbestos was found in the building, but according to Christie, that has all since been removed.
Bowood has been in operation since 1974 and over the years has taken on numerous retrofit projects across the GTA.
For this project, as a caveat in their agreement, the city has requested Bowood seek out local contractors for work wherever possible.
Christie says he has already taken that step.
“We’ve contacted numerous local trades and contractors and we’ve gotten quotes from them and now we’ll go out and level down the players,” he says.
The city’s helping hand
Under the city’s Central Business District CIP, Bowood will be receiving a little more than $1.4 million in grants and loans.
A large chunk of the assistance comes in the form of a façade improvement loan of $750,000 to be paid out in annual payments of $75,000 over the next 10 years.
Although labeled under the façade improvement program, the money will actually be coming from the city’s Civic Property Development Reserve, and funded through $75,000 in annual budget contributions.
The remaining incentive comes in the form of an increased assessment grant to be divvied out over the next 14 years.
This grant allows the city to waive all or some of a building’s property taxes for any given year.
In 2015, the Genosha was assessed at approximately $1.69 million, making the property taxes for a given year approximately $16,800.
Under the city’s program, 100 per cent of the taxes will be waived for the first 10 years under the new owner, with that amount decreasing by 20 percent each year for the remaining four years of the agreement.
Bowood is also able to receive a grant from the region under their Regional Revitalization Program.
While nothing has been decided as of press time, the previous owners of the building were approved a financial incentive of $550,000.
Under the CIP, the city is protected in the case that the project falls through.
If the renovation isn’t completed, or not finished as of the city’s March 2017 deadline, the developer will no longer receive any financial assistance.
This was the case with the previous owner, which had been approved for more than $1 million in incentives, that money was never paid as the project was never completed.
This time around, Christie is sure the project will be completed, or in his words.
“100 per cent positive.”