City council caves on Grover’s demand for more money
In a five up, five down decision, Mayor Don Atchison broke the tie between Saskatoon city councillors to move forward with a purchase contract for one of Jack Grover’s properties at a higher price than the two parties originally agreed to. Approximately six weeks ago Jack Grover agreed to accept $104,000 for the house at 408 Avenue P South from an undisclosed buyer. Upon learning that the City was the buyer Grover claimed that the deal was not done in good faith and threatened to withdraw from the agreement unless the City agreed to a higher price of $119,000.
City administrators recommended that council agree to the higher price to avoid the costs of litigation, as well as the time that could be lost to such an action.
Apparently the Avenue P house was the last holdout on land that has been set aside for an affordable housing project as part of the Pleasant Hill revitalization project.
Some things are worth paying for.
Star Phoenix story here.
Pleasant Hill Revitalization Project Blog here.
Pleasant Hill Local Area Plan here.
I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.
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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate
9 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
September 29th, 2009 at 9:48 AM
“In the early 1980s, when the city was assembling land in Block 146… one property owner took the city to court rather than sell. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada before the city finally prevailed in 1986, but by then the economic boom that was supposed to propel the development fizzled… In the 1990s, council received a report indicating the effort to assemble the land, combined with lost opportunities, cost taxpayers more than $20 million.”
As morally reprehensible as it sounds, it was probably money well spent (under the circumstances). This guy gives even slumlords a bad name…
September 29th, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Landlord fails to save building from demolition
Grover attempted to get court injunction to stop destruction of westside property
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Landlord+fails+save+building+from+demolition/1811083/
“For two years, the five-unit residence at the corner of Avenue D North and 27th Street West crept toward demolition, which was delayed by a court appeal from Grover… Stubborn until the end, the building’s demise has been in the works for several years and anticipated by neighbours in Caswell Hill… The city originally planned to demolish the building in July 2008, calling it structurally unsound, and evicted the residents, but Grover appealed the decision and the demolition was delayed a year. In June, the appeal failed and the city hired a contractor to level the building… The demolition bill — it cost $40,000 for the last city-forced property dismantling, a two-story single-family dwelling — is given to the owner, who still owns the lot.”
Case-in-point (hopefully the City of Saskatoon had the good sense to lien this property and deny him a future building permit…)
September 30th, 2009 at 12:29 PM
I lived at 1819 Avenue D for a few months, I wonder if that’s the building in question?
As much as it goes against my values, I can’t blame the person selling the property This is just the game Saskatchewan has chosen to play nowadays…
Good on him/her for making Don sweat even just a little.
September 30th, 2009 at 4:51 PM
You probably weren’t aware of this Alex, but two people died and several were seriously injured (one permanently disabled) as a result of faulty smoke detectors in this individual’s property. There’s landlords, slumlords and then there’s just pond scum.
October 1st, 2009 at 7:55 AM
Jason, you’re totally right.
In the past, I’ve also tried to highlight the greed and cruelty prevalent amongst property owners in Saskatoon.
What happened on the property can never be excused.
That said, if he actually cared, Don Atchison likely doesn’t feel very smart right now.
If Saskatoon was not induced into a real estate frenzy, this property would have cost a fraction of what the city was made to pay for it.
October 1st, 2009 at 9:27 AM
Alex, my understanding is that this property is (or one of?) the last before they can begin an affordable housing project (see my first post). In actuality, they probably paid less for this property (extortion included) than they would have at the height in the housing market in 2008. Compared to the $85 million (and growing) tab for the River Landing development, this looks like a bargain by comparison…
October 1st, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Jason,
That’s correct. It is the last dwelling sitting on that parcel of land. All of the others have been removed.
Alex,
This business deal seems to be a great example of “the man” sticking it to “the man.” I can see how it might have a bittersweet taste for you.
Looks like Winnipeg has had a pretty frenzied market as well over the past couple of years, but I see CREA’s website that the average price is just $207,389 in August. Can that be right? If it is, that seems pretty darned reasonable.
October 1st, 2009 at 6:26 PM
Norm, it does (Winnipeg), although the question begs to be asked: “Why?”
October 2nd, 2009 at 1:30 PM
It’s always important to keep perspective in Winnipeg. Divide the city in two – possibly even more – pieces.
In Saskatoon, a price increase on one side of the city almost instantly impacted the other side. In Winnipeg, it doesn’t work quite like that and if prices jumped 100k overnight in the South, the North might only see a fraction of that gain.
I actually see this as a virtue for Saskatoon in good times and a virtue for Winnipeg in bad times. Saskatoon being a more balanced and smoothed out city, whereas Winnipeg has definite sub-communities.
I’ve been in touch with my real estate friend (Royal LePage as well, maybe I should plug his name here?), and he has indicated that “buyer confidence” in Winnipeg is rising. Although I don’t perceive it.
Again, maybe because of the area of the city I’m in. Maybe things are changing. Who knows! Like Saskatoon, it’s a great place to be with lots to do – just a bit more affordable.