Quote:
Originally Posted by ScreamingViking
Awesome. This could be a real centrepiece for Ottawa-Gatineau.
This land has been vacant for a while, hasn't it? (10 years?) What has been holding up redevelopment - environmental issues, Domtar, politics, all three?
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They shut down the mills in the early-mid 2000s and I'm pretty sure a lot of other buildings were abandoned long before. It was a steady decline over many years.
What stopped the redevelopment? I would say mostly politics. Since the 1980s, the National Capital Commission has had big plans for the area but never had the resources to buy the lands. A few years back, the Feds officially killed any hope (good riddance) of the NCC buying the islands.
I'm sure environmental/historical factors (very high decontamination costs and expensive restoration of historic buildings) were at play for private companies.
Windmill still has a few issues to deal with before the sale is complete such as zoning approvals in two municipalities/provinces, dealing with the NCC who seem to think they own the land and aboriginals who think they are owed (aboriginal issues are federal jurisdiction, private companies don't owe them anything). I don't know if it will be a problem, but there is also a Hydro Québec hydroelectric plant between two Domtar land masses.