A conditional agreement of purchase and sale on a small piece of the controversial Hollingsworth Arena land has been struck between the Town of Newmarket and a developer that has been eyeing the property.
In its June 24 Newmarket Now email blast to residents, the Town said that the arena parking lot will be closed down from July 8 to 31 to allow Briarwood Development Group to conduct environmental and geotechnical assessments on the land in advance of a future development application.
After a long and impassioned debate about whether or not to sell all or just the southerly 21-metre portion of the 35 Patterson St. Hollingsworth property, Newmarket council decided May 27 in a unanimous vote to retain the majority of the land and declare as surplus the small chunk of which Briarwood has offered to buy.
Briarwood owns two adjacent parcels of land at 639 and 713 Davis Dr., in the Huron Heights neighbourhood.
“These works are being carried out in anticipation of a future development application that is expected to include the southerly 21 meters of the Hollingsworth Arena property,” the Town said in the newsletter.
It won’t be known what the property has sold for until and unless the sale is finalized and a report comes before council.
The aging Hollingsworth Arena will be decommissioned at the end of the 2020 season, expected to be sometime next April.
Briarwood floated a development concept on its own Davis Drive lands in a Feb. 5 community meeting it initiated that includes two 15-storey residential buildings with commercial use and townhouse units proposed at the base of each tower.
Mayor John Taylor has said that he believes selling a portion of the land “is a good way forward”.
“I think we’ll look back and we’ll see there are reasons to celebrate, both in protecting green space and in the advancement of our (Yonge Street and Davis Drive) corridors, and in new housing options.”
Councillor Jane Twinney, in whose ward the Hollingsworth Arena land is located, didn’t support selling the land in its entirety.
“...This area has been a recreation facility for some time, even though it’s come to its end of life. I think there’s potential for other recreation that can be a benefit to the community, whether it’s a splash pad or basketball court or green space,” she said.
Town staff have been asked to report back on the potential future uses of the Hollingsworth land of which the municipality will retain ownership, along with financing options that could come from the sale of the small portion of property.
Public consultation is expected to follow next year on the use of the land.
