The town spent $1.5 million to purchase the old Royal Bank property in downtown Bradford West Gwillimbury, according to a report outlining economic development activity last year.
Overall, there were more than $88 million in real-estate purchases made by various people in BWG, with an additional $350,000 in leased spaces, read the town staff report.
Although the town is still looking for someone to rent the old bank property at 26 Holland St. E., just east of Simcoe Road, there were also a number of Community Improvement Plan grants awarded to downtown businesses for renovations and improvement, worth a total of $329,482.87, read the report.
“This is what we want. We heard (people) thought our downtown was unsightly,” said Coun. Mark Contois at an April 16 council meeting.
“We want to see the downtown core flourish. We have banners, poles, flags, flowers, and now facades are being fixed, and interiors being fixed. We had stores unoccupied and now they’re occupied. These are wonderful things for our community.”
Biggest investments
According to the economic development report, the biggest real-estate purchase in town in 2018 was an industrial commercial investment worth $13,201,000 for a 63-hectare property at 3412 8th Line.
The next highest purchase was $13 million for a 10,266-square-metre industrial property at 65 Reagens Industrial Pkwy., which is Cericola Farms.
The report does not list the new owners, but Maple Leaf Foods announced last fall it had acquired Cericola.
Jobs
In 2018, the Town of BWG saw an increase of 200 jobs, compared to 2017 data, read the report.
This does not include home-based businesses, and an additional 221 self-employed businesses.
As well, 24 new businesses opened in BWG, including BradfordToday, which will celebrate its one-year anniversary April 30.
Total jobs in BWG for 2018 were tallied at 12,143 — a nearly two per cent increase compared to 2017, read the report.
Building permits
In terms of building permits, the Town of BWG also saw a spike in all categories, including 80 mercantile permits issued in 2018, compared to 33 in 2017, read the report.
There were also jumps in permits for business and personal service (56 in 2018, compared to 33 in 2017), farm building (26, to 18), and industrial (21, to 15), read the report.
Although there were more permits in all areas, construction value was 39 per cent less compared to 2017 — at about $50 million, down from about $82 million, the report read.
How much is your house worth?
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is responsible for municipal property
assessments, of which the last one in BWG was done in 2016.
The economic development report includes a chart listing how the rates have changed between 2009 and 2018.
Of all property types, residential assessments increased the most — from $2.3 billion, to $5.8 billion.
In total, assessments for all property types spiked from nearly $3 billion in the town, to $6.9 billion.
To read the full economic development report, click here.
