Farhi applies for $10.4M in tax incentives to develop brownfield next to WFCU

The brownfield next to the WFCU Centre is one step closer to being something more exciting.

Formerly home to the GM trim plant, along with a couple of other industrial operations, the site was purchased by Farhi Holdings Corporation in 2005 andhas sat vacant ever since.

"It constitutes about 11 per cent of the city's brownfield inventory, so it's a big chunk of brownfield land that's going to be put back to productive use," said Greg Atkinson, senior planner with the City of Windsor.

The Development and Heritage Standing Committee is recommending that Windsor councilapprove $10.4 million in tax incentives for the owner to redevelop the land.

Those tax incentives are covered through the Brownfield Redevelopment Community Improvement Plan.

Theincentives are intended to encourage the development of brownfields, which are sites that may be contaminated due to previous industrial or commercial useand therefore require environmental cleanup.

The tax incentive total is expected to roll out over a course of 13 years.

The corporation's plan for the site measuring 24.5 hectares (60.6 acres) is as follows:

• 119 detached residential lots.
• Four townhouse blocks (total of 48 units).
• Five multiple dwellings buildings (total of 230 units).
• Seven-storey hotel.
• 3.1 hectares (7.8 acres) of commercial land.

If council approves the committee's recommendations, the company hopes to begin work in the fall.

"There's a demand for this type of product in east Windsor, and we want to get started literally as quickly as possible," said Karl Tanner, partner with Dillon Consulting, a firm working with the owner on this application process.

If approved, the redevelopment will start with multi-residential development, Tanner said.