There's been interest in a prime Sarnia waterfront property, but 140 Front Street South is still for sale.
Coldwell Banker Southwest Realty Sales Representative Patrick Coutu said the 1.72 acre site, once largely occupied by The Sarnia Observer, has been on the market since mid-January.
"It's a portfolio that has four different properties," said Coutu. "It's basically two corners. So, it's the corner of Wellington and Christina and Wellington and Front. So, everything that's contained within that area."
140 Front Street in downtown Sarnia. 20 April 2023. (Photo by Sarnia News Today)
Coutu said the newspaper still rents space there.
"At one time [The Observer] operated the building that's on the northwest corner of this portfolio. They occupied the whole space. But, now it's down to a very small portion, but they still occupy some of the space," he said.
The property is listed for $5.9 million and has a total of 11 residential units and five commercial units.
"There's a small portion of commercial office space that is listed for lease, but the majority of the property is fully occupied," Coutu said.
He said typically, on a sale like this, the tenants will stay.
"All tenancies are protected," Coutu said. "Tenancy goes with the title. So, either your lease protects your tenancy, or the residential tenancy act, or the commercial tenancy act."
As-is, Coutu said, it's a wonderful income property.
"Any investor could just step in and become the owner. It's firing on all cylinders. The current ownership group has done some preliminary work in order to redevelop with a ten storey residential tower, so there has been some work done with the planning department, but nothing really in earnest yet on that" he said.
Coutu added that there has been interest.
"These types of [sales] are fairly complicated and they're slow moving. So, it takes a while for people to get through the minutiae of a project this size. So, there is some interest, but nothing imminent to close a deal yet," said Coutu.