Town, Bayloc, and Zancor reach deal for purchase and sale of municipal beachfront property

The Town of Wasaga Beach is pleased to announce that council has agreed to sell town-owned land at the beachfront to Bayloc Developments Inc. with Zancor as a partner, subject to a maximum 120-day due diligence period.

If the sale is finalized, Bayloc and Zancor will redevelop the waterfront properties, creating ground floor retail spaces and restaurants with residential units above. A public square to host events and gatherings is also part of the project.

The town is planning investments in streetscaping to support the revitalized area, including the creation of a raised waterfront promenade – where Beach Drive currently exists – with various pedestrian-friendly features.  

“On behalf of council and town staff, I congratulate Bayloc on its decision to pursue this ambitious community investment,” Mayor Nina Bifolchi said. “We have gone through two very transparent and rigorous processes to get to this point. This is an exciting moment for our community. The result of this development, when fully built out, will be a revitalized neighbourhood that can be enjoyed by residents and visitors.”

Mayor Bifolchi said the town is also pleased to have Zancor on board as a partner with Bayloc.

“Zancor is a long-established builder in our community with a proven track-record. They are also experienced builders of mixed-use medium density developments in the GTA. Zancor is known for quality design and construction. We are very excited to have them involved with this project,” she said.

Specifics of the deal will be kept confidential until the due diligence period concludes and the purchase and sale agreement is finalized. The town and developers will make preliminary concepts available for viewing on the beachfront redevelopment page on the town’s website.  

During the due diligence period, Bayloc and Zancor will refine their development concepts.  Work will also start on a master development agreement to establish overall planning requirements for the project.

The town commenced negotiations with Bayloc in February, one of the development companies identified through a formal Request for Expressions of Interest process and a formal Request for Proposals process.

A team involving town staff and consultants negotiated on behalf of the municipality with Bayloc. The town’s CAO, George Vadeboncoeur, provided updates to council and obtained council direction on a regular basis.

In July, Bayloc asked if Zancor could come on board as a partner and council agreed, subject to all parties reaching a formal agreement.

Throughout the project, the town has utilized a fairness monitor to ensure the integrity of the exercise.

“As fairness monitor for the procurement process associated with the redevelopment of the Beach Area 1 lands, I can state with confidence that the Town of Wasaga Beach administered a procurement process that fully met an acceptable standard of an open, fair, and transparent process,” fairness monitor Bill Mocsan of William Mocsan Consulting Inc., said. “The RFP was clearly written, and the town was very diligent in their description of the procurement process. The Evaluation Teams were qualified to conduct the evaluation, they were all trained on best practices, and they followed the evaluation process exactly as it was described in the RFP.”

Mary Ellen Bench, a solicitor with Dentons Canada LLP, the town’s legal counsel for the project, said the municipality engaged in a thorough process to receive and evaluate competitive bids for the project and to negotiate an agreement of purchase and sale.

“As provided for in the RFP, the due diligence period that follows requires the negotiation of a development agreement acceptable to council,” she said. “The RFP requires a comprehensive development agreement that will respect the town’s Downtown Development Master Plan and related planning documents, and that will contain the details of what will be constructed. In my experience, the process followed by the town satisfies all legal requirements. As a lawyer practicing municipal law on behalf of municipalities for over 35 years, including 18 years as city solicitor in Mississauga, I can add that I believe the town staff have taken great care to ensure that the town’s interests are protected and that council has been engaged at every step of the process.”

The town’s integrity commissioners also ruled the process open and transparent, which they spoke to in a report to council in July.  

Gianni Ciufo of Deloitte, project consultants, said the agreement of purchase and sale marks an important milestone for the town.

“This substantial redevelopment and improvement of Beach Drive and the development parcel will bring short and long term employment growth to the area and will be a catalyst to economic development and expanded seasonal enjoyment of the town and its amenities. The preferred proponent was selected following a competitive transaction process which provides taxpayers with value for money,” he said.

The president of Bayloc, Nick Falvo, said his company looks forward to pursuing the redevelopment project.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for our company to help the Town of Wasaga Beach realize the potential of this area,” Falvo said.

Fabrizio Cortellucci, president of Zancor, said the company also looks forward to developing Wasaga Beach’s waterfront.

“This is a beautiful area and we are committed to creating a vibrant new neighbourhood in keeping with council’s vision for the area. We’ve proven in Wasaga Beach and elsewhere in Ontario that community building is something we do very well,” Cortellucci said.

Bifolchi said the agreement with Bayloc, with Zancor on board, marks another positive way Wasaga Beach is moving forward.  

“We have so many great things happening in Wasaga Beach,” she said. “Our twin-pad arena and library is under construction. We are proceeding with important streetscaping investments at the main beachfront to support the redevelopment of town-owned land. The casino is under construction, meaning new jobs for residents. We have other new businesses opening. New homes are popping up. And a new elementary school is coming to Sunnidale Trails. Our community is growing and through all of these projects will become a more vibrant and diverse place.”

Visit the town’s Build Wasaga portal to learn more about our efforts to redevelop municipally owned land at the main beachfront.