BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report
As Hudson council weighs its decision on whether to buy an additional lot in the Sandy Beach area, the owner of the land — who currently owes $1 million on the property — says the town should exercise its first right of refusal and purchase it for $1.3 million.
“I think the city should,” said the husband of the registered owner of 2 Royalview Street in an interview with The 1019 Report last weekend. “I think the people really want it.”
“If the city wants to buy it, it’s now or never because there will be a building on it,” said the man, who asked that his name not be published.
He said the proposed offer to purchase includes the most recent set of plans for a single-family home that have been submitted to the town for approval.
Successive attempts to obtain a permit to build a house on the two-acre waterfront property immediately to the east of the lots purchased by the town earlier this year for $8.7 million have failed, leading to delays and frustration, he said.
“It has been a dream place for my family,” the man said, explaining the delays have contributed to the decision to sell the property.
The town was informed of an accepted offer to purchase the lot for $1.3 million in March, triggering its registered right of first refusal. This means the town has the option to buy the lot by matching the price.
Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison earlier this month said the town had received notification of the accepted offer, and was weighing its option to exercise its right of first refusal on the lot. Yesterday, she confirmed a decision on whether the town will exercise that right is expected to be made at the next council meeting on April 28.
One member of council interview yesterday said he expects his council colleagues will approve the purchase at the April 28 meeting.
“This is our chance to get it,” councillor Mark Gray told The 1019 Report. “I expect it to be unanimous,” he added.
According to the Registre foncier du Québec, the public database of all real estate transactions in the province, the lot at 2 Royalview was purchased by Brooke De Santis on July 15, 2021, for $780,000 plus taxes. The sale of the property included an acknowledgment that “the property is partially situated in a flood zone and in a Zone d’intervention speciale and is affected, in part, by a bande de protection riveraine.” The property also includes two servitudes; one in favour of the town and another in favour of Hydro-Québec/Bell Canada. No mortgage was registered.
The Town of Hudson registered its first right of refusal on Aug. 29, 2023.
On Aug. 1, 2024, a mortgage for $1 million was registered on the property. Granted by Briva Finance, a private firm specializing in short-term bridge financing, the loan carries a 25-per-cent annual interest rate “calculated daily and compounded monthly.”
The mortgage is still active for the full amount, the property owner’s husband confirmed to The 1019 Report.
At the March 24 council meeting Hutchison had said: “We are handling this file with care and attention, doing the validations and assessments it deserves.”
In an interview yesterday, she confirmed town officials analyzed the 2024 land evaluation, the proposed flood map and the impact it would have on construction rights and looked into available subsidies. They had also confirmed no known ties exist between the proposed purchaser and the property owner.
According to the current assessment role for 2025-2027, the lot is valued at just under $1.17 million. The previous role pegged it at just under $885,000. The annual municipal tax bill on the land is $6,224, according to the listing posted on the Centris real estate website.
In January, the provincial government approved Hudson’s plan to buy 35 acres in the Sandy Beach area for $8.75 million. Net-purchase tax charges and financing costs pushed the cost of the acquisition to $9.6 million. The town then attributed $2 million of its accumulated surplus to the purchase, resulting in the need for a $7.6-million loan, which was then further reduced to $5.6 million in February, when the town accepted a $2-million grant from the Communauté métropolitain de Montréal.
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