Changing hands

Cape Breton businessmen buy Ben Eoin Marina property

The Ben Eoin Marina land has been sold to a consortium of local businessmen.

A spokesperson for Public Works and Procurement Canada advised the Cape Breton Post Wednesday afternoon that a numbered company — 3312636 Nova Scotia Limited — commonly referred to as the Ben Eoin Development Group, had purchased the land for $150,000, “which represented the best value for Canadians.”

The directors of the numbered company are Mike Kenny, Troy Wilson, Rodney Colbourne, Steve MacDougall, Siva Thanamayooran and Glen Brann. The same group earlier this year purchased the nearby Aerie Estates subdivision.

The terms and conditions of the lease with the Ben Eoin Marina Ltd. will remain in place as a condition of the sale to the Ben Eoin Development Group, which will allow the marina to continue its operations.

The federal government department had earlier indicated that two bids for the property had been received.

Last month, the federal government placed for sale the seven-hectare property on which the marina’s yacht club sits. The ground lease that the marina executed with the former Enterprise Cape Breton Corp. was for a 50-year term, with an option to renew for another 50 years, at a rent of a dollar a year. That is a covenant by which the new owner of the property will have to abide.