Former site of Studio 10 and Dime Nightclub identified as having potential for residential development

The former Studio 10 and Dime Nightclub property at 89 Hudson St. is poised to be offered for sale by the City of Sault Ste. Marie.

The adult entertainment establishment was destroyed by fire in February 2019.

Two of the three Hudson Street land parcels involved in the proposed sale were bought by the city for $350,000 five years ago.

That transaction prompted widespread concerns about whether the city spent too much to acquire the vacant land and the city’s lack of any kind of plan for what it would do with the properties. 

Next Tuesday, city councillors will be asked to approve a sale process for the three lots on Hudson Street, as well as other properties at 84-94 Park St. and 72 Corey Ave.

Known as the Access to Land program, the initiative is intended to increase the Sault’s overall housing supply and sell off city-owned properties viewed as having potential for infill residential development.

If councillors agree, the city will:

• develop a request for proposal (RFP) template, evaluation matrix and sales agreement for properties to be sold through this program
• issue RPFs accordingly
• issue an RFP for a realtor to market the surplus properties to be sold under this program
• conduct further investigations into city-owned vacant properties

In a report prepared for Tuesday’s city council, Steve Zuppa says selling the lands though a separate RFP process “will ensure that they are listed on REALTOR.ca and the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which will broaden the pool of prospective applicants.”

“While real estate agents typically operate on a commission basis, the Access to Land program may lead to properties being sold below market value,” Zuppa said. 

“Therefore, it is more practical to select a single agent through a competitive process to market all Access to Land properties, with commission structured as a flat rate based on the appraised value of each property.”

Next week’s city council meeting will occur on Tuesday to allow for the Labour Day long weekend.

SooToday will livestream the meeting starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday.