As SooToday's Kenneth Armstrong reported earlier today, the old General Hospital site is now bustling with activity.
City council agreed on Monday to sell the derelict structure for $1 and other considerations to Green Infrastructure Partners Inc. (GIP).
Green Infrastructure will pay most of the cost of demolishing the building and redeveloping the property.
Sault Ste. Marie's Ruscio Masonry and Construction Ltd. is acquiring the former renal building nearby for $2 million, for development purposes.
By Wednesday, GIP and related company GFL Environmental Inc. were already installing their signage on the job site.
On Thursday, GIP workers had started looking for hazardous materials, conducting structural assessment and putting dust screens on the fence surrounding the property.
Based in Markham, Ont., Green Infrastructure is one of Canada's largest infrastructure development companies.
Headquartered in Vaughan, Ont., GFL Environmental is North America's fourth-largest diversified environmental services company, with more than 19,500 employees across Canada and in more than half of U.S. states.
The chief executive officer of GFL and chair of GIC is Sault native Patrick Dovigi, a 45-year-old former Erie Otter goaltender turned billionaire businessman.
Dovigi's name was not among the 40 individuals and families named this week to Maclean's Rich List of wealthiest Canadians.
But six years ago, his net worth was estimated at $1.08 billion, placing him 97th on Canadian Business magazine's list of Canada's Richest People in 2018.
Waste management seems to have treated Dovigi very, very well.
He owns Lady Jorgia, a 115-metre superyacht rumoured to have cost him €330 million in May, 2023.
The luxury vessel can be seen in the photo gallery at the top of this article.
Lady Jorgia turned heads when she appeared at last year's Monaco Grand Prix.
Success notwithstanding, Dovigi has been in the news recently after shots were fired outside his Toronto home and another owned by his business partner Ted Manziaris, a consultant to GIP.
The Globe and Mail has also reported that six vehicles were set on fire on July 1 at an industrial yard used by GIP.
But at Monday's city council meeting, both Patrick Dovigi and Dave Ruscio were hailed as exemplary, upstanding entrepreneurs.
There were two other bidders: 9720413 Canada Ltd. (Ismarteam) and Terra Power Systems Inc.
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of a joint submission from GIP and Ruscio.
"The selection committee was determined by staff," said Tom Vair, the city's chief administrative officer.
"It included five representatives from the CAO's office, community development, enterprise services, the legal department and purchasing department," Vair said.
"We staff provided our analysis based on a mid- and high-level projection of what we would believe would be the development on this property. And the proponents have committed to completing the master plan within 24 to 36 months. That will provide our first look at the type of development that will be going on the site," Vair said.
"I think this is as good of a deal as we could have hoped for," said Ward 3 Coun. Angela Caputo.
"I know that there's been some chatter in the community about us selling this for $1 or whatever has been reported.
"But I think if you look over the long term, this is going to be a really wonderful investment into our city. We are going to recoup our money pretty quickly.
"And I think the only piece that I am sort of disappointed in is that we're not getting a better interest on that mortgage.
"But aside from that, I think that our team has done a good job and I'm happy to support this deal," Caputo said.
"I'm very confident that these particular developers, the Ruscios and GFL, are wonderful, wonderful citizens, wonderful leaders of this community," said Ward 1 Coun. Sandra Hollingsworth.
"And I believe that the outcome, the product that we're going to see, is going to be basically a wonderful, beautiful addition to our waterfront," Hollingsworth said.
"I have great faith in the two proponents of the properties," said Ward 2 Coun. Lisa Vezeau-Allen.
"I think it's great that we have locals that are wanting to invest in something that has been a blight for many years," she said.
"I am feeling confident that we have two local folks and families that are committed to our community. We've endured lots of difficulties with out-of-town developers that aren't adhering to what they say they're going to do.
"So I do support this, and I have strong faith that safeguards will be in place so what they say is going to be done, and that we will have a beautiful, renewed asset on our waterfront," Vezeau-Allen said.
"I believe we have all the safeguards in place, and I think we must move forward with this," said Ward 4's Marchy Bruni.
"If we don't move forward, this property will stay as is for who knows how long, and I think it's important that we can develop it, or we have developers to develop it.
"There'll be a lot of revenue for the city, so we should be moving forward. I think it's a win-win for everybody," Bruni said.
Ward 1's Sonny Spina said not only is the city getting $2 million from selling one of the properties, but it's saving $4.5 million because a developer is paying to demolish the other one.
"These are two very reputable, very trustworthy companies here in Saul Ste. Marie, and I think it's a great partnership for us to go forward."
"If council had moved in a different direction 14 years ago, we would be having a very different conversation today about the benefits that property has had for our community."
"Instead, we're starting here today, but I think that's a fantastic starting point," Spina said.
"I think it'll be a big asset," said Ward 2 Coun. Luke Dufour. "It's going to be a very busy two months, but I know one that will be very welcome in the neighbourhood once it's completed."
Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said the two waterfront properties will bring in a lot of tax revenues once they're redeveloped.
"When this building is redeveloped, the renal, and when the General Hospital property is developed, we have the potential to make upwards of million dollars a year in new tax revenue to pay for things that people want, like better parks, better roads, more police officers, better city services.
"These are things that we aren't going to get unless we take the initial step to see it redeveloped. Because if we let it sit for longer, it's just going to stay in the state of repair that it is currently in.
"So I am very pleased that we have found people with a local connection to see this redevelopment through because I think it is the only guaranteed way that we are going to keep the commitments that have been made," the mayor said.
The city has granted Green Infrastructure and its contractors and affiliates an exemption from the noise bylaw starting when demolition begins and ending when demolition is complete, no later than 10 weeks from the date of commencement of the work.
Photos of the yacht Lady Jorgia accompanying this article are used under the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication (full ship) and Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International deed (close-up of tender garage).
The formal portrait of Patrick Dovigi is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International deed.