The new Tory provincial government has backed out of a deal to sell the brow lands around Century Manor and use the proceeds for affordable housing.

The former Liberal government approved the complicated deal with the city and Mohawk College just a month before being ousted in the recent provincial election.

The original plan was to sell the valuable 12.5-hectare former psychiatric hospital lands through the city to the growing college — which in turn vowed to restore the property's historic-but-crumbling Century Manor. The province had promised to put the sale proceeds, about $9.5 million, toward affordable housing in a planned mixed-income, 20-storey development on city-owned land at 191 York Blvd.

But city planning head Jason Thorne alerted councillors Thursday in a memo that the new provincial government "will not proceed" with the deal as originally outlined. Thorne said the brow lands remains in provincial hands and it is not yet clear if they will be made available for sale, or under what circumstances.

The Spectator was still waiting for comment from provincial officials Thursday night.

But local officials were uniformly shocked by the move — particularly since the sale had Treasury Board approval in May and then-Liberal MPP Ted McMeekin had called it a "done deal" despite the election.

CityHousing Hamilton president Chad Collins called the decision the "second big hit" the city has taken from the province on affordable housing since the Progressive Conservatives were elected.

Ontario's early decision to kill the cap-and-trade program also eliminated $17 million in anticipated renovations and retrofit money for Hamilton social housing buildings.

"This definitely sets us back," said Collins, who noted the city's social housing agency had been talking to developers about partnering on the York Boulevard project — but now must find a different source of funding for any social housing on the property. The wait list for affordable housing in Hamilton is now 6,860 households, or 16,650 people.

"This was the funding we needed to take concrete steps forward on the project, now."

The nixed land sale also leaves the fate of crumbling Century Manor up in the air, not to mention a hoped-for campus expansion for cramped Mohawk College. The building that once formed part of the Hamilton Asylum is protected by a city heritage designation — but the province is not bound by those municipal rules.

Mohawk president Ron McKerlie wrote the city Wednesday to reiterate the college's "continued interest" in the land if the city is still able to purchase it from the province later.

He stressed the institution "shares the city's vision" for the brow lands, including targeted public access and the "creative repurposing" of Century Manor, a crumbling heritage building advocates have long feared will be demolished through neglect.

Thorne said the city will continue to explore an affordable housing opportunity for 191 York Blvd. and report back in 2019 with a new strategy.

In May, outgoing Ward 8 Coun. Terry Whitehead celebrated the deal — which he said took three years to nail down — as a way to preserve heritage, create public access to the brow and create badly needed housing "in one swoop."

Election candidates vying to replace him in the ward started weighing in Thursday.

John-Paul Danko called the decision "an unfortunate setback" and a loss for both Mohawk College and heritage preservation. But he vowed, if elected, to work with Mohawk and the neighbourhood "to make sure that our shared vision for the brow lands is clear to the province."

Steve Ruddick criticized the decision as "unilateral" and said his plan, if elected, would be to meet with the mayor and provincial officials to determine how the "win-win" deal could be salvaged.

mvandongen@thespec.com

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