fixer-upper on the lake (1 year later)

[kickingfrog]

65 thousand square foot (yes 65,000 ft²) uncompleted home on Lake Temiskaming is for sale.

 

I bet a coffee that camp jiggy is "worth" more.

 

Money does not buy taste or style.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/what-does-a-25-million-home-look-like/article1531476/

Edited April 22, 2011 by kickingfrog

[Raf]

I saw that article this morning.

 

That thing is an abomination. I can only hope nature reclaims that land. I'd be furious if I owned a piece of heaven on that lake.

[Flappn]

Man I am not sure that is nice...looks like a government building......

[fish_fishburn]

Kind of looks like an institution of some sort. Not a house.

[Roy]

I'm surprised that the governments haven't bailed those poor people out with our $25 mil to start the Lake Temiscamingue Eco Resource Centre to push even more lodges towards bankruptcy. Praps just my cynical side talking.

[fishindude]

What an eye sore

[Dara]

I saw that article this morning.

 

That thing is an abomination. I can only hope nature reclaims that land. I'd be furious if I owned a piece of heaven on that lake.

 

 

Yeah...makes it look like the shoreline of lake Ontario, another piece of heaven that got messed up

[discophish]

Hmmm ...

 

 

 

 

[danbouck]

2 elevators and we didn't even get to quote on them

[irishfield]

Maybe if Peter had of used some OSB in that place.. they wouldn't have had to file for protection...

[Roy]

Ran over budget on the 18 hole golf course...couldn't afford one 4 piece bathroom. Those folks often have 2 beamers and 2 Mercedes in the driveway but feed their children mustard sandwiches for supper. Priorities are a little skewed.

[smitter]

That house is so ugly it's offensive.

[CLofchik]

Tax shelter.

Somebody probably wanted to create a "Deerhurst North", because of Canuckistan's convoluted tax system if somebody uses that as a primary residence for a year before turning it into a commercial enterprise they basically pay no property tax, along with a pile of incentive programs and dodging development fees.

 

The logic of creating what appears to be a high end exclusive golf resort on Temiskaming and it's aesthetics are another story.

[kickingfrog]

A year later and no one has snapped this place up.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/few-offers-for-canadas-biggest-fixer-upper/article1991822/

 

 

Few offers for Canada’s biggest fixer-upper

 

PAUL WALDIE

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Apr. 19, 2011 6:35PM EDT

Last updated Wednesday, Apr. 20, 2011 10:14AM EDT

 

Maybe it’s the location, the price tag or the fact that it’s not quite finished. Whatever the reason, selling Canada’s largest house has not been easy.

 

The 65,000-square-foot property is in Haileybury, Ont., about 140 kilometres north of North Bay, Ont., on the shores of Lake Temiskaming. It includes an art gallery, office area, swimming pool, squash court, two elevators, a giant hot tub, a small gym, a boathouse and 43 acres of land. But many rooms aren’t finished and a new owner will have to sink in as much as $1-million to make it livable.

 

The house, about the same size as Bill Gates’ mansion near Seattle and about 10,000 square feet bigger than the White House, has been on the multiple listing service for about a year at an asking price of $25-million. But there haven’t been any decent offers.

 

Now the firm trying to unload it plans to run ads in several newspapers, including The Globe and Mail, in an attempt to drum up interest. “The Haileybury Lakeside complex is a luxury property with potential to become a landmark residence and office,” according to the offering material put together by Ernst & Young Inc., a court-appointed monitor handling the sale. Potential bidders have until June 24 to submit an offer, with a 15-per-cent deposit.

 

“It's a unique asset and it's a high-cost asset, so there's clearly going to be limited buyers for it,” said Alex Morrison, a senior vice-president at Ernst & Young. When asked whether he has ever seen a house that big, Mr. Morrison said: “I never have. It's quite an impressive building when you go up and see it.”

 

The vacant complex is one of the last remaining assets of Englehart, Ont.-based Grant Forest Products Inc., once one of Canada’s largest building products companies. And it stands as a sad reminder of the company’s ill fortune and bad timing.

 

Founded in 1980 by Peter Grant, the family-owned business expanded rapidly as the housing bubble grew in the United States. At its peak in 2004, Grant operated six mills – two in Ontario, one in Alberta and two in South Carolina – and was North America’s third-largest maker of oriented strand board (OSB), a product similar to plywood that’s used to build walls, floors and roofs.

 

The success prompted Mr. Grant to branch out. He started building a golf course in nearby Earlton, Ont., acquired a 65-foot yacht made partly made out of OSB, and snapped up acres of land around Timmins.

 

In 2005 he started work on the Haileybury house, hoping to use it as an office complex, living quarters and a showcase for Grant products. The monster-home dwarfs everything else in the area and was supposed to come complete with a small golf course in the surrounding acreage.

 

By 2007, Mr. Grant’s fortunes turned. The housing market in the United States began to collapse, dragging down OSB prices and forcing Grant to cut production. Within two years, OSB prices had fallen by two-thirds and Grant’s sales had dropped from $500-million to $184-million. Even worse, the downturn came just after the company had launched a costly expansion project at two mills.

 

The company tried to keep going but by June, 2009, it succumbed and filed for court protection from creditors, citing nearly $600-million in debt. The mills have since been sold by the monitor, Ernst & Young, and all remaining assets are up for sale.

 

Mr. Grant abandoned the Haileybury project in 2008, leaving a partly finished relic. If he could have hung on just a bit longer, the company might have survived. By 2010, the housing market began to turn around and China started snapping up Canadian forest products. Prices for OSB jumped 34 per cent last year and Toronto-based Norbord Inc., one of the largest OSB makers still standing, reported a profit for the first time in four years. Even more telling, Atlanta-based giant Georgia-Pacific, which bought three of Grant’s mills, recently announced that it is close to reopening the mills to take advantage of the upturn in the market.

[danbouck]

It's not the price or the fact that it's not finished that's stopping it from getting sold, it's the fact that anyone sinking over 15 mil on a house is going to build one exactly how they want it built and not buy someone else's place (at least my clients are this way).

[irishfield]

Maybe TJ will buy it so we can use it as a club house...

 

The Grant family had a great thing going.. they just got a little over zealous in their "endeveous". Don't let it all fool you that they're actually broke though... the "house" was owned by the corporation.

[Terry]

right on the K-bec border

well if Quebec separates, I guess he will have ocean frontage

 

 

ocean frontage...never mind

[irishfield]

You bringin da saw or me Terry?

[Terry]

I assumed they would do it themselves...LOL

[Mike01]

I'm sure i'll get jammed up for commenting on this but I'm going to anyway.

 

No, the house isn't my cup of tea, but with that said the man worked hard to build a very successful company over 25 years, and even battled cancer in the process. I'm not sure how you can give him such a hard time.

[POLLIWOGG]

The feds have started selling off some of the Thousand Is. Parks, might be a better deal there for some property.

[Twocoda]

heck i would buy it and use it as a cottage for me and the mrs...but im a little short in funds (about 25 million)

[irishfield]

I'm really surprised Hells Angels don't pick it up for their Ontario strong hold. They already fly a helicopter up and down the Quebec shoreline to their place over there.

[muskymike]

The worst part is, the Grant floor panels now known as Dryguard are an amazing product...it's too bad.

[TC1OZ]

I think its pretty nice..... For a college campus.