Consortium withdraws Well Inc proposal
The City of Sherbrooke has revealed that the business consortium expected to provide the major support for the City’s downtown revitalization plans has pulled its offer, throwing the entire project back to the drawing board.
The consortium formed by the Custeau Group, Sherweb, and the Fonds de solidarité FTQ said the decision was a business one, based on an unfavourable risk associated with the much-debated plan originally championed by former mayor Bernard Sévigny.
The news came without prior warning to City Hall on Friday.
“We would have liked more time to evaluate all the aspects of the project,” Mayor Steve Lussier expressed in a press Release Sunday morning, adding, “We nonetheless respect the decision of the consortium.”
Lussier was critical of the consortium’s proposal during last fall’s municipal election campaign and was elected based largely on the argument that he would re-evaluate all agreements that the city had planned at the time. The project has also received some criticism for its potential impact on downtown residents and businesses, as well as for a lack of transparency in the process itself.
The Well Inc. project, which called for the construction of two towers, a multilevel parking garage, and a public square, created division within both the former and current City Councils and the withdrawal of the consortium’s proposal could open the door to more options. Already, alternatives are being proposed and will be discussed in the coming weeks, starting at tonight’s regular city council meeting
Councilor Vincent Boutin reacted quickly and angrily to the news, with a Facebook post suggesting that the decision was in part the result of pressure from the mayor. "The Mayor may have achieved his goal,” he wrote, “but the real losers are Sherbrookers and downtown who are losing a project that has all the elements of being a catalyst its revival. The (mayor’s) blatant lack of leadership had the effect of tarnishing Sherbrooke’s reputation. . . He did nothing when Sherweb, a company that makes Sherbrooke proud and which wanted to give back to its community, was getting maligned. He never defended them, let them be called profiteers,”
The situation has all the potential to throw plans for the development of Wellington St. South into turmoil. The City has already purchased several properties in the area based on the consortium’s proposals.