Prudhomme’s Landing goes up for sale.

A missed opportunity for Niagara... for now at least!

A well known Niagara Property has now been put onto the open real estate market. The 80 acres site formerly housed the infamous Wet ‘n Wild Waterpark and is currently home to a handful of highway commercial uses and variety of derelict buildings, one of which was completely destroyed earlier this week in a fire.

Over the past few years, the current owner has been methodically developing plans for this large and spectacular site. The parcel totals 80 acres and has over 1.0km of Lake Ontario frontage as well as 1.3km of QEW frontage. Current development plans part way through the extensive approval process include a mixed use development with approximately 800 residential units, plus 750,000sq-ft of commercial development. The property is being sold on an unpriced basis.

The current owner is a locally owned and established private equity firm, Ken Fowler Enterprises. This prominent St. Catharines firm has been involved in numerous development projects and businesses such as: Maracay Homes, Muskoka Red Leaves Resort, Home Capital Corporation, West 49th, Jack Astor’s Restaurants and many others.

The owner has been assembling and holding this site for literally decades. I can’t help but wonder why this property would now be disposed of. Is it the economy? Has the developer realized a satisfactory profit by taking the project just half way- probably, but why not follow through? Is it a sudden gloomy forecast for our region’s profitability in the eyes of the sophisticated owners? Perhaps it is a combination of these factors. Maybe it has nothing to do with any of them.

Regardless, I personally believe in Niagara. Not especially St. Catharines, or Niagara Falls, or Niagara on the Lake, but NIAGARA! I think this site allows a tremendous opportunity to make a unique impression on those who pass through our Region on the QEW. Right now we are missing a significant chance to shout out to the surrounding area that Niagara is a great place to be! We have a significant affordability and quality of life advantage over most parts of North America. We have excellent natural beauty and incredible tourism attractions. We have an opportune business location in the epicentre of the prime North American Commercial Corridor.

Unfortunately, as people drive speeding by on the QEW, it doesn’t look like we have much of anything. I sincerely hope that the sale and ultimate development of this high profile, highly visible property will occur swiftly so we people will see that we are not stuck at a standstill. Those speeding by might just slow down to check out major modern developments like those proposed at Prudhomme's Landing. They might be impressed that we would attract such a high level of investment and sophistication. It's sad to see such a significant site trade out of local hands, but maybe it will help to speed up the development and put Niagara on the map! Maybe the new owner will be the first of many to realize Niagara's potential will attract like minded individuals and corporations who will lead the 21st century development Niagara deserves and Niagara citizens should demand.