The Town of Collingwood has taken another step toward its Grain Terminals Revitalization Project.

Earlier this month, the town’s Committee of the Whole approved a report from staff recommending the town execute a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with development partners Streetcar & Dream.

"The partnership between the Town, Streetcar & Dream opens the door for us to do more for the community," said Amanda Pegg, Executive Director, Customer & Corporate Services. "It achieves three critical goals: ensuring the town maintains ownership of the majority of the lands, it gives the town authority to set expectations and brings greater value for taxpayers' dollars as it leverages private investment to upgrade and enhance public spaces and meet community needs."

Staff have been working with Streetcar and Dream to ensure the guiding principles remain at the forefront of the negotiation process.

Although the MOU in its entirety remains confidential, the town and the developers have agreed to release specific business terms that the parties deem are of high interest and importance to the community:

• The MOU includes the sale of a surface area of approximately 0.2 acres of the spit lands by the town to the proponent. This land sale would accommodate the proposed residential development.

• The remaining spit lands (approximately 19.8 acres) would remain under the ownership of the town.

• The MOU includes a long-term land lease of an approximate 0.8 acres by the town to the proponent. This land lease would accommodate the revitalization of the silos to create the hotel and other public amenities contained within.

The present value of the costs to the town is about $15 million.

Pending council approval to proceed with the execution of the MOU, which will be discussed on June 19, staff will proceed with the next phases of the project. These will include planning for initial community engagement and consultation with an intention of beginning active engagement in 2023.

Additional investigative work on the terminals and the surrounding lands will commence, as appropriate and will support the required land use planning applications to facilitate the redevelopment. Public input and the findings from the additional investigative work will be critical in informing the design of the final concept for the lands, which will be subject to Council decisions under the Planning Act.

Streetcar and Dream presented their vision for the terminals site in March.

Highlights from the proposal include the re-development of Heritage Drive with significant public realm enhancements and access, preservation and adaptive reuse of the Terminals including a full-service hotel, restaurant and event space, and a residential component to the east of the Terminals.