JOSHUA ALLAN
The 1019 Report
The town of Hudson is considering its options on whether to invoke its right of first refusal on the sale of a 37,000-square-foot lot off Main Road, which had once been the planned site of the proposed Villa Wyman seniors’ residence.
Listed for sale for $650,000, an offer to purchase the lot was accepted last month.
A member of the board of directors for the Villa Wyman declined to comment, including revealing the identity of the party who submitted the offer of purchase or the amount of the bid.
But news of the accepted offer has triggered a 60-day period that allows the town to decide if it wishes to apply its right of first refusal.
Last August, Hudson council voted to formally register a right of first refusal on 22 lots within the town’s territory, including all the lots owned by Nicanco Holdings Inc. in the waterfront area surrounding Sandy Beach; all the churches in the town, along with the parking areas surrounding them; the Sikh temple on Main Road; the Como golf course; two vacant lots on Como Gardens Street; and the Manoir Cavagnal seniors’ residence. The move was made after the provincial government passed a law that allows municipalities to register a right of first refusal on properties that are put up for sale.
By filing the right with the land registry, the law allows municipalities to match, or even increase offers, in order to purchase properties and buildings that are up for sale once an offer on a registered property is accepted by the current owner.
Last week, Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison said it was too soon to tell if the town will invoke its right in this instance.
“We are still collecting information to bring to council for review and consideration,” Hutchison wrote in an email in response to questions posed by The 1019 Report.
She added that she expects the preparation material to be ready for the August council meeting.
The deadline for the town to invoke the right of first refusal is Monday, Aug. 5 – the day of the next council meeting.
The empty lot, which is situated across from the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar – formerly the Wyman Memorial United Church – is currently zoned exclusively for the construction of a seniors’ residence/assisted living facility.
The property had been planned as the site of the Villa Wyman, a two-storey, 18-unit seniors’ residence, which had been in the works since about 2015. That was until the project was scrapped in December 2023 due to what the project’s board of directors called “untenable” delays and requests for revisions to its plans by the town.
The decision to drop the project was made after Hudson council rejected a request to modify the layout of a parking area proposed for the residence. The modification had been requested after the project’s board of directors discovered the initial plan for parking, which the town had approved, encroached on the former church lot and it could not reach an agreement with the new owners of that property to permit a right of way. At that time, in a statement to the town, the Villa Wyman board of directors said: “After eight years since the inception of this project we lack the confidence in the town of Hudson to facilitate the timely completion of this project.”