Ongoing lease negotiations with the County of Lambton have, at least temporarily, ended a deal to sell the land beneath the Bayside Centre in downtown Sarnia to a retirement home developer.

The closing date for the $1-million deal with Seasons Retirement Communities to buy the property – the Oakville-based company already owns the mall – has already been bumped twice amid ongoing negotiations with the County of Lambton over plans to relocate the Lambton Shared Services Centre to another part of the property.

The land sale was contingent on the county lease agreement being in place, to ensure development goes ahead as agreed. It expired Thursday, said City Solicitor Scott McEachran.

“We’re just at that point where … ‘Seasons, why don’t you work on your lease and then come back to us when you’re maybe a little closer to getting that finalized,’ he said.

The two extensions – the first closing date was in September – have required the city’s chief administrator’s intervention since council has been in a lame duck position with the recent election, McEachran said.

“It just doesn’t make sense for a CAO to take on that responsibility when we have a new council, and let the new council deal with this issue,” McEachran said.

The agreement with Seasons included conditions for 300 underground public parking spaces, a 7,000-square-foot piece of property at Vidal and George streets for a future city transit terminal, and a buyback clause for the city to repurchase the land at 85 per cent if certain targets aren’t met inside of three years on demolition and construction.

The project, estimated at more than $40 million, would involve building a 12-storey retirement complex, renovating the underground parking structure, and creating a pedestrian walkway extending Lochiel Street through the heart of the current mall.

“Once we have finalized the lease agreement with the county, we can renew our agreement for the land sale with the city,” Seasons officials emailed on behalf of CEO Mike Lavalée.

There’s no reason to change the deal, said Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley.

“I would hope the new council would see this as the most exciting opportunity for a major, huge, the biggest development in downtown Sarnia since the original Eaton Centre was built.”

The Bayside Centre was called the Eaton Centre when it opened in 1982.

Bradley praised Lambton County staff for working cooperatively on the “complex” deal, adding he doesn’t understand why Sarnia administration didn’t bring a recommendation to the outgoing city council to extend the agreement.

“It’s not a monetary thing,” he said.

But it’s not a major issue, he said, noting he’d like to see a deal in front of county council in December or January.

“I remain cautiously optimistic we will be able to reach some sort of a handshake deal early in 2019,” said John Innes, facilities, finance and court services manager with the county.

It’s been slow but positive, he said, noting they’re negotiating the legalese of the lease – length, size of the space, etc. – before discussing financials.

The county deal is separate but parallel from the city’s deal, he said, estimating 200-250 staff in court, social services, public health and other services occupy the current shared services centre in the mall.

“Negotiations are continuing,” he said. “Everybody is committed to seeing them come to a fruitful conclusion.”

tkula@postmedia.com