The city has cleared what it expects will be the final hurdle with Metro to allow for its waterfront redevelopment plan to go forward.
During a special council meeting this week, the “registration of the revised restrictive covenant for 70 Front St. N.” was approved.
Details of the restrictive covenant were discussed in closed session, but Mayor Steve Clarke said it was “the final thing needed to be worked out to allow for the development to go forward.”
“They had some strict covenants,” he said of the owners of the plaza, “and we’ve come to an agreement.”
The city and Metro had been in a legal dispute regarding issues related to the property, its sale and the grocery store’s lease. In May, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the city, stating Metro’s lease expires in 2029, not 2039 as Metro had argued.
The motion approved at this week’s special council meeting means the city can go ahead with its plan to demolish all of the plaza except for Metro, allowing for the eventual extension of Coldwater Street to the waterfront.
“It really will be a nice esthetic,” Clarke said.
Demolition of the southern portion of the plaza is expected to begin in October.
